Scottish bishops urge politicians to reject ‘dreadful’ assisted suicide bill

With a final vote on the controversial proposal due to take place on March 17, Scottish bishops have made an urgent plea to Scottish politicians to reject the legislation.

Scottish Catholic bishops and pro-life leaders have made a passionate plea to politicians ahead of a key vote to reject a proposed assisted suicide bill because it is “unsafe.”

Assisted suicide is currently illegal in Scotland, but if Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill becomes law, terminally ill adults will be given assistance to end their own lives.

With a final vote on the controversial proposal due to take place on March 17, Scottish bishops have made an urgent plea to Scottish politicians, known as MSPs (members of Scottish Parliament), to reject the legislation, which they dismiss as “a dreadful mess.”

Speaking to EWTN News, Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said: “Liam McArthur’s bill is not safe — and it will harm many more than it wants to help. I urge the Scottish Parliament to reject this legislation.”

He added: “Astonishingly, MSPs will be asked to vote on an incomplete bill, with key protections for doctors and other health care staff needing to be stripped out and legislated for by the U.K. Parliament. It is, quite frankly, a dreadful mess, especially for a bill that is literally a matter of life and death.”

The bishops’ call comes as reports have emerged of some Christians in Scotland backing the bill.

The Catholic Church teaches that assisted suicide is inherently immoral, and Keenan argued that the vulnerable will be at risk from the bill.

“The bill being proposed, if it becomes law, will lead to Scottish citizens, especially the elderly, sick, and disabled, living in deep and profound fear,” he said, going on to explain the reasons for which the bishops are opposed to the bill.

“Under the proposal, people would not be precluded from applying for an assisted suicide if they have an intellectual disability or eating disorder or are being influenced to apply because of poverty or inadequate housing,” he said.

He continued: “Doctors can initiate discussion on assisted suicide even when patients have not brought it up, significantly undermining trust in the doctor-patient relationship and putting vulnerable patients at risk of coercion. No training will be offered to spot domestic abuse or coercive control or to understand the rights of people with disability.”

While it is uncertain how the vote will turn out, research from pro-life charity Right To Life UK stated that over 20 MSPs who originally voted for the bill “have indicated they could vote against it at the final vote at Stage 3.” The bill will fail if seven of these MSPs change their minds to vote against it.

Right To Life UK warned that legalizing assisted suicide would represent “a total catastrophe for Scotland.” The charity’s spokesperson Catherine Robinson told EWTN News that the bill “will almost certainly have an especially negative impact” upon people with disabilities.

Following the Scottish Parliament’s decision to reject or withdraw over a hundred proposals designed to make the bill safer and protect the most vulnerable, Keenan outlined the choice facing MSPs.

“With reasonable safeguards rejected and the removal of key protections for doctors, the choice before our MSPs is now a binary one: either to facilitate the autonomy of some who wish the discretion to end their lives as and how they choose and vote for an incomplete bill, or to protect the countless vulnerable people who will undoubtedly be caught up in its crosswinds. It is clear that MSPs cannot vote to have both,” he said.

The bill has been heavily criticized by the pro-life community. Echoing Keenan’s comments, Paul Atkin, pro-life officer at the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, told EWTN News: “We urge MSPs to step back from this dangerous bill.” Blasting the bill as “deeply flawed and unsafe,” Atkin highlighted the “uncertainty and unresolved safeguards,” saying: “Introducing assisted suicide risks undermining the very services that provide compassionate care to people at the end of life.”

He added: “When the stakes are literally matters of life and death, uncertainty and unresolved safeguards should give the Scottish Parliament serious pause.”

Many representatives from the political and medical sphere have also shared their concerns about the legislation. The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland “strongly oppose[s]” the bill, saying it “opposes a change in the law on assisted dying and therefore the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill.”

Sharing his own opposition, Catholic Peer Lord David Alton pointed out that “safeguards don’t work,” adding: “You only have to see what’s happened in Holland, Belgium, and Canada, and other jurisdictions that have introduced these changes. The safeguards are not worth the paper on which they are written.”

Looking forward, Keenan and Atkin both called the Scottish Parliament to change its focus from assisted suicide toward investing in the protection and care of the vulnerable. Keenan urged the Scottish Parliament to initiate “a meaningful debate on end-of-life care,” adding: “Focusing on how we protect the most vulnerable should be our priority in Scotland.”

Atkin also called on MSPs to “focus on strengthening palliative care so that every person in Scotland can receive the support and dignity they deserve at the end of life.”

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