Scottish bishops warn assisted dying bill poses dire risks to vulnerable citizens as key protections and conscience clauses are stripped out.
Newsroom (17/03/2026 Gaudium Press) As Scotland’s lawmakers prepare for one of their most ethically charged decisions in modern history, the nation’s Catholic Church has issued a stark warning: legalizing assisted suicide would mark a profound moral and humanitarian crisis. On Tuesday, the Scottish Parliament is set to cast its final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, legislation that would for the first time permit physician-assisted suicide across the country.
The Catholic bishops of Scotland have characterized the moment as a “binary choice” for Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)—whether to grant new autonomy to some citizens or protect vulnerable people from what they view as an existential threat. “This Bill is a serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those who suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse,” the bishops declared in a joint statement released Monday, signed by Bishop John Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
They argue that the rejection of an amendment preventing doctors from initiating conversations about assisted suicide “dismantles thousands of years of Hippocratic tradition—of ‘first, do no harm.’” This, they say, compounds the risk of coercion for those already struggling under illness or dependency. The bishops also denounced the removal of conscientious objection clauses—once meant to protect doctors unwilling to participate—as a “devastating omission” that leaves healthcare professionals, hospices, and faith-based care homes with no shield from legal or institutional pressure.
“The result is an incomplete Bill,” the bishops contend, “devoid of a key protection for healthcare workers.” Without such provisions, they warn, Catholic hospices and care homes could face closure rather than comply, dealing “a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system.”
Their criticism has found resonance among medical and professional bodies. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland, once neutral, have now declared their opposition. The Association for Palliative Medicine has also described the Bill as “compromised by inadequate safeguards.”
Anthony Horan, Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, echoes these concerns, warning that insufficient protections leave vulnerable individuals open to pressure and abuse. “No disability organization has come out in favor of this Bill,” he said, citing Glasgow Disability Alliance founder Tressa Burke, who has publicly voiced fear about its passage. Burke, who lives with multiple sclerosis, described the proposal as “terrifying,” saying it “lacks important safeguards.”
Experts in domestic abuse have similarly sounded alarms. Dr. Anni Donaldson of the University of Strathclyde criticized lawmakers’ rejection of amendments intended to strengthen protections against coercion, calling the move “baffling and alarming.” She warned that the law could “make life more dangerous for vulnerable women.”
Despite earlier parliamentary approval at Stage 1, which many MSPs described as necessary to “continue the conversation,” Horan believes that deliberation has reached its conclusion. “We have had the conversation,” he said, “and the verdict of experts is clear: This Bill is not safe and should be rejected.”
For Scotland’s Catholic leaders, the debate ultimately transcends politics or religion. Their appeal rests on the conviction that “true compassion is not found in killing but in walking with those who suffer.” The bishops urge legislators to reject the notion that ending a life can ease suffering, instead calling for investment in care and companionship for those at the end of life. “Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God,” their statement reads.
“The task of society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer,” Horan added, “but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.” As MSPs prepare to vote, the Church’s message remains resolute: compassion, they argue, must never come at the cost of conscience—or the vulnerable lives it seeks to protect.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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