The Bishop of Southwark, the Right Rev Dr Tom Butler, said that the economic cost of long-term healthcare and education must be considered.

Going further than any mainstream Church leader has done before, the bishop said that there may be circumstances when it is morally acceptable to perform a “possibly lethal act”.

Dr Butler has submitted a paper to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a think-tank that advises on moral dilemmas created by scientific advances. The council — of clinicians, lawyers, philosophers, scientists and theologians — will publish guidance on Thursday about how to deal with very premature and very sick babies.

Medical advances now enable some babies to survive at 22 weeks gestation even when they are so premature that they could have been legally aborted at 24 weeks.

The bishop made his submission as public affairs’ vice-chairman for the Church’s Mission and Public Affairs Council. He said: “For a Christian, death is not the end, and is not to be avoided at all costs.”

The evangelical wing of the Church gave warning that the views were a slippery slope towards euthanasia, and the Roman Catholic Church issued a statement defending the right to life.

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