In response to an assisted suicide bill in the Scottish Parliament, Anthony Horan, director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, said that the legislation is “frankly dangerous. It risks undermining the provision of palliative care and undermining efforts to prevent suicide it will make the most vulnerable people, including the elderly and disabled, feel like a burden and its safeguards will prove futile.”

“The Catholic Church would urge Scottish politicians to learn of the dangers that have already been seen abroad, particularly intolerable pressure on the vulnerable, disabled or elderly to end their lives prematurely,” he added.