Scotland: Catholics urged to lobby MSP's against assisted suicide

Anthony Horan - ICN screenshot

The Catholic Parliamentary Office has called on parishioners across Scotland to lobby MSPs against dangerous proposals to legalise assisted suicide. A briefing, which has been sent to every Catholic parish in the country, asks parishioners to contact local MSPs, either as individuals or as part of an organised parish group.

Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, Anthony Horan, urged Catholics to get involved: "The Catholic community in Scotland was key to stopping assisted suicide in 2010 and 2015. We need them to step up once again. Please help us to stop death by prescription in Scotland and to call for better palliative care instead. We should be caring for people, not killing them."

Among the dangers outlined in the briefing is that assisted suicide undermines efforts to provide good palliative care by providing a quick, cheap alternative; that it undermines efforts to prevent suicide by suggesting that sometimes suicide is an appropriate response to an individual's circumstances, worries and anxieties; and that it pressurises vulnerable people, including the elderly and disabled, to end their lives prematurely through fear of being a burden on family, caregivers and the state.

The Church also points out that assisted suicide is uncontrollable. In every country where assisted suicide and/or euthanasia is legal, safeguards have been eroded and eligibility criteria expanded to now include people with arthritis, anorexia, autism and dementia. It has also been extended to include children.

Catholic parishioners and others are urged to visit the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office website for guidance on contacting MSPs: Assisted Suicide - Catholic Parliamentary Office ( www.rcpolitics.org )

Liam McArthur MSP is expected to publish a Bill later this year proposing the legalisation of assisted suicide.

There are around 400 Catholic parishes in Scotland.

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Scottish Catholic Media Office: www.scmo.org