(OSV News) ─ The bishops of Scotland expressed concerns over the government's response to amendments that would protect faith-based organizations' and hospices' objections to assisted suicide.
In a statement published March 10, Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, president of the Scottish bishops' conference, said the country's bishops disagreed with the government's assertion that it was unclear "how an institution might demonstrate what their 'conscience' position is."
Every organization, he wrote, "has guiding values that shape its mission and practice."
"The bishops' conference maintains that no organization should be compelled by the state to participate in the deliberate ending of life when doing so would violate its ethical or religious principles," Bishop Keenan said.
Introduced in March 2024 by Scottish parliamentarian Liam McArthur, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would allow eligible adults "to lawfully request, and be provided with, assistance by health professionals to end their own life."
According to the bill, eligibility requirements include a person who is 18 years of age or older, terminally ill, and must "have sufficient capacity to make and understand the decision." The bill was amended recently to raise the minimum age from 16 to 18.
With the final vote expected to take place March 17, two parliamentarians ─ John Mason and Paul O'Kane ─ introduced amendments that would allow health care providers, faith-based institutions, charities and educational establishments to not participate or facilitate assisted suicide.
The proposals would also ensure that organizations that objected would not be "subject to any detriment, financial loss, regulatory sanction, or legal action."
However, politicians supported a measure removing those protections.
Joining the bishops in their criticism was the pro-life group Right to Life UK, which said that removing protections for those who object meant that there would be "no accountability or oversight from MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) and those who will be directly affected by the bill if it becomes law."
A group of medical professionals also expressed similar concerns, saying that it raised "important questions about transparency, accountability, and the robustness of the legislative process."
In an open letter to the Scottish Parliament, seven medical bodies stated that while it had " no collective view on the principle of assisted dying itself, we are unified in our concerns about the legislative process now being proposed."
Among the signatories were the Association for Palliative Medicine (Scotland), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland.
"These protections are central to the safe, ethical, and fair delivery of care, and to the confidence of our medical workforce who may be affected by the legislation," the statement read.
The removal of "issues such as regulatory protections and employment rights" from parliamentary scrutiny would "represent a substantial weakening of the transparency and rigor expected in the development of major legislation affecting healthcare delivery," the medical bodies said.
The Scottish bishops' conference echoed those concerns and said that "for many faith-based organizations, including Catholic hospices and care homes, these values are fundamentally incompatible with the introduction of assisted suicide."
"The bishops' conference urges the Scottish Government and MSPs to recognize and respect institutional conscience rights, ensuring that organizations are not forced into actions that contradict their foundational values," Bishop Keenan wrote.
- - -
Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.
