The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

16th March 2026

16 March 2026

MSPs face a binary choice on assisted dying: a new autonomy for some or protecting thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots

The Scottish Parliament stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. On Tuesday, MSPs will cast their final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill—legislation that would change healthcare forever by permitting, for the first time, physician-assisted suicide.

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. In a world that often prizes independence, those who are vulnerable can easily feel like a burden.

An amendment to the Bill that would have prevented doctors from being able to raise assisted suicide unprompted with patients, was rejected; a decision that, in one move, dismantles thousands of years of Hippocratic tradition of ‘first do no harm’.

This decision only adds to already significant concerns expressed by MSPs about the risk of coercion, demonstrating a keen awareness of their responsibility to protect vulnerable people from this threat.

The crucial conscientious objection clauses that offered protection to doctors have been stripped out of the Bill which means MSPs will be asked to vote on an incomplete Bill devoid of a key protection for healthcare workers. This has moved the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland to switch from a position of neutrality to one of opposition to the Bill.

Furthermore, an institutional opt-out was disappointingly voted down by MSPs, meaning Catholic hospices and care homes would be forced to close rather than provide assisted suicides in a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system.

True compassion is not found in killing but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

I understand how the choice before our MSPs is unenviable, because it is now a binary one; either they vote to allow some citizens a new autonomy, or they vote to protect thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots who do not want this legislation and who will suffer most if this Bill passes. They cannot do both at the same time, and I would urge them, in the last analysis, to think of those who, in the months and years ahead, will find themselves defenceless and who, at this moment, are depending on them most.

Bishop John Keenan

President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Contact:

Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

2nd March 2026

2 March 2026

Christian Leaders Urge MSPs to Reject Assisted Suicide Bill Ahead of Final Vote

An Open Letter to MSPs Ahead of the Stage 3 Vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

Dear Member of the Scottish Parliament,

We write together as Christian leaders in Scotland because we believe Liam McArthur's Assisted Dying bill touches one of the most important moral questions of our time - how we care for one another at the end of life.

While we understand the deeply felt desire to relieve suffering, permitting doctors to assist in ending life undermines human dignity. However carefully framed, such legislation risks normalising he idea that some lives are no longer worth living. It would expose the most vulnerable - the elderly, the disabled, and those who feel themselves to be a burden - to subtle pressures and coercion that no safeguard can fully prevent.

True compassion does not mean helping someone to die, but committing ourselves to care for them in life. Scotland should invest in first-class palliative and end-of-life care, ensuring that no one faces pain, fear, or loneliness without support.

Courts and legislatures in Canada and Australia have grappled with the consequences of assisted dying laws: eligibility has expanded, safeguards have been challenged, and concerns about coercion and misuse have arisen. We should learn from those experiences rather than repeat their mistakes.

We urge you, therefore, to stand for the equal worth and dignity of every human life, and to vote against this legislation at Stage 3. A truly compassionate society accompanies those who suffer; it does not abandon them to an early death.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Rev. Rosemary Frew
Moderator, Church of Scotland

Bishop John Keenan
President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Rev Alasdair Macleod
Moderator, Free Church of Scotland

Rev Martin Keane, Moderator
United Free Church of Scotland

Major David Burns
Executive Secretary to Leadership (Scotland), Salvation Army

Andy Hunter
Director for Scotland, Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Alistair Matheson
Scottish Regional Superintendent for the Apostolic Church UK

Contact:

Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

27th February 2026

27 February 2026

Choosing Compassion, Not Assisted Suicide - A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Scotland

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Scotland stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. In the coming weeks, the Scottish Parliament will cast its final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill; legislation that would, for the first time in our nation’s history, permit physician-assisted suicide. As your shepherds, entrusted with the care of souls and the protection of human dignity, we write to you with deep concern.

True compassion is not found in hastening death but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

Over recent months, several Members of the Scottish Parliament who once supported the proposal have now either withdrawn, or are seriously considering withdrawing, their backing, recognising that the risks embedded within it are too grave to ignore. Their change of heart reflects a dawning awareness that coercion, especially the subtle, hidden coercion experienced by the most vulnerable, including the elderly, the sick, the disabled and those living with domestic abuse, cannot be reliably detected, let alone prevented.

Key protections that should form the very foundation of such legislation, however flawed the principle may be, have been removed or rejected. Proposals for mandatory training for doctors to recognise coercive control were voted down by the Parliament Health and Social Care Committee. Measures ensuring that patients are offered proper palliative and social care before considering assisted suicide were dismissed. An opt-out for hospices and care homes who object to assisted suicide was also rejected. Even the conscience rights of healthcare workers remain uncertain. As a result, MSPs are being asked to vote on a Bill that is incomplete and reliant on future intervention from Westminster—an arrangement that several parliamentarians have already described as unworkable and irresponsible.

Experience from abroad also offers a sober warning. In countries where assisted suicide has been introduced, narrow criteria have widened over time, placing ever more people at risk—not because of unbearable physical suffering, but because they feel abandoned, isolated, or burdensome. We must not allow such a trajectory to take root here in Scotland.

We therefore urge you, the Catholic faithful of Scotland, to act. Please contact your MSPs and respectfully ask them to oppose this legislation. Make your voice heard in defence of those who may not be able to speak for themselves. Resources to assist you—including Care Not Killing’s online email tool—are available and we invite you to use them prayerfully and thoughtfully.

Let us also hold in prayer all those approaching the end of life, all who care for them, and all charged with shaping the laws of our land. May the Holy Spirit grant our nation the wisdom to choose the path of life, compassion, and genuine human solidarity.

Yours devotedly in Christ,
+ John Keenan, President, Bishop of Paisley
+ Brian McGee, Vice-President, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles
+ Andrew McKenzie, Episcopal Secretary, Bishop of Dunkeld
+ Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
+ William Nolan, Archbishop of Glasgow
+ Joseph Toal, Bishop of Motherwell
+ Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen
+ Francis Dougan, Bishop of Galloway

Contact:
Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

The Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland work together to undertake nationwide initiatives through their Commissions and Agencies.

The members of the Bishops' Conference are the Bishops of the eight Scottish Dioceses. Where appropriate the Bishops Emeriti (retired) provide a much welcomed contribution to the work of the conference. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is a permanently constituted assembly which meets regularly throughout the year to address relevant business matters.

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

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News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by tag: Bishops' Conference of ScotlandReturn

March 2026

13Mar

For three days MSPs have been debating the Assisted Suicide Bill late into the night — sitting until 10pm each evening as hundre...

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

For three days MSPs have been debating the Assisted Suicide Bill late into the night — sitting until 10pm each evening as hundreds of amendments are examined line by line.

This alone shows just how complex, flawed and unresolved this legislation remains.

Despite hours of scrutiny, serious concerns about safeguards, protections for healthcare professionals, and risks to vulnerable people persist.

As Lord Alton reminds us: hard cases make bad law.

Scotland should not rush through legislation of this magnitude while so many questions remain unanswered.

This Bill must be rejected.

Contact your MSP today:
👉 carenotkilling.scot

The more we know, the more we say no.

13Mar

Some commentators have pointed to polling suggesting that around 61% of Catholics support assisted suicide

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Some commentators have pointed to polling suggesting that around 61% of Catholics support assisted suicide. This figure comes from a YouGov poll conducted in 2023, which asked about assisted dying in general terms. Now that we know the details of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, we are all now in a much better position to assess the proposal.

Polling consistently shows that when people learn more about the detailed reality of assisted suicide, including the woeful lack of basic safeguards, the risk of coercion, the impacts on disabled and vulnerable groups, the effects on palliative care provision, etc., support drops significantly.

Research cited by Care Not Killing in 2025 shows that when respondents are presented with the risks and complexities involved, initial support declines and opposition increases.

This highlights an important point in the current debate: the more people understand the detail of the proposed law, the more cautious they become about changing the law. Knowledge is power!

The more we KNOW, the more we say NO.

📍 Learn more about the issues at
http://carenotkilling.scot
Now is the time to contact your MSP to share your concerns.

13Mar

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland has announced its opposition to the Assisted Suicide Bill following the removal of vital protections for pharmacists who may wish to conscientiously object.

This is a significant intervention from the professional body representing pharmacists in Scotland and raises further serious concerns about the impact of the Bill on healthcare professionals.

As key safeguards continue to be stripped away, the risks of this legislation are becoming clearer.

Read the statement:
👉 https://www.rpharms.com/about-us/news/details/Statement-RPS-opposes-the-Assisted-Dying-Bill-in-Scotland

Contact your MSP today and urge them to reject the Assisted Suicide Bill:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

The more we know, the more we say no.

13Mar

Where assisted suicide has been legalised around the world, the pattern is clear: the law rarely stays as it was first introduce...

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Where assisted suicide has been legalised around the world, the pattern is clear: the law rarely stays as it was first introduced.

In country after country, what begins as a tightly limited measure gradually expands. Eligibility criteria widen, safeguards change, and more people become eligible over time.

Laws that were once presented as applying only to a very small number of terminally ill patients have, in many places, expanded to include those with chronic illness, disability, or other conditions.

This is why many people are concerned about introducing such legislation. Once the door is opened, future parliaments may widen the law far beyond its original intentions.

If you are concerned about the direction Scotland is heading, please take action today.

The more we KNOW, the more we say NO.

Write to your MSPs by visiting:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

13Mar

Many disabled people are passionately opposed to assisted suicide legislation

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Many disabled people are passionately opposed to assisted suicide legislation.

Why? Because they fear it will be people like them who are subtly made to feel that their lives are burdensome, that they would be better off dead, that society would be better off without them.

No law exists in a vacuum. Laws shape culture. They shape expectations. They shape how we value one another.

We do not want to live in a country where the vulnerable feel pressure to justify their existence.

Scotland must choose compassion, protection and genuine care — not a pathway that risks undermining the dignity of those who most need our support.

The more we KNOW, the more we say NO.

Write to your MSPs by visiting:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

13Mar

Rights are defined by law

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Rights are defined by law. They can be expanded, limited or rewritten.

But dignity is different. It does not come from Parliament. It does not depend on health, independence or productivity. It belongs to every human person simply because they are human.

Any law that permits the intentional ending of life risks weakening that foundational truth.

Scotland should uphold the inherent dignity of every person, especially the most vulnerable.

Write to your MSPs by visiting:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

Carefully read the wording of the email before sending. Click the button and enter your postcode when prompted.

13Mar

𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland is deeply disappointed by the decision of the Scottish Parliament to reject all institutional conscientious objection amendments to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.

Every organisation has guiding values that shape its mission and practice and, for many faith‑based organisations, including Catholic hospices and care homes, these values are fundamentally incompatible with the introduction of assisted suicide.

The future of such institutions, which so faithfully and compassionately serve their local communities, some for hundreds of years, is now uncertain if the Bill passes.

The Bishops’ Conference maintains that no organisation should be compelled by the State to participate in the deliberate ending of life when doing so would violate its ethical or religious principles.

The Bishops’ Conference urges MSPs to reject the Bill, ensuring that organisations providing critical care services are not forced to decide between acting contrary to their foundational values or closing.

13Mar

🚨 BREAKING

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | Being Catholic |

🚨 BREAKING

Murdo Fraser MSP has confirmed that the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland has moved today from a position of neutrality to full opposition to Liam McArthur’s Assisted Suicide Bill.

This is a significant development. When one of the country’s leading medical bodies raises serious concerns about the legislation, MSPs should take note.

Expert voices from the medical community continue to warn about the risks and consequences of this Bill.

Contact your MSP today and urge them to reject the Assisted Suicide Bill:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

The more we know, the more we say no.

13Mar

The right to life is the most basic of all human rights

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | Being Catholic |

The right to life is the most basic of all human rights. It is the foundation upon which every other right depends.

Former MP and MSP Dennis Canavan reminds us that a society which loses respect for human life ultimately impoverishes itself. When the law begins to permit the ending of life, even in limited circumstances, it risks weakening the principle that every human life has inherent dignity and worth.

This debate is not simply about individual choice. It is about the values we uphold as a society and the protections we offer to the most vulnerable.

If you are concerned about the direction Scotland is heading, please take action today.

The more we KNOW, the more we say NO.

Write to your MSPs by visiting:
👉 https://carenotkilling.scot/

Be sure to carefully read the wording of the email to make sure you are happy for it to be sent to your MSPs. Click the button on the website and enter your postcode when prompted.

Your voice matters.

13Mar

Gospel

13 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Gospel
Mark 12:28b-34
‘You shall love the Lord your God. You shall love your neighbour.’

At that time: One of the scribes came up to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ And the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.