A Fatal Flaw: Why Scotland's Assisted Suicide Bill is Falling Apart

Scotland is on the brink of passing one of the most consequential laws in its history — yet the ground beneath the proposed assisted suicide bill is visibly crumbling.

In recent weeks, MSPs who previously backed the legislation have expressed significant reservations, warning that the bill cannot protect vulnerable people from pressure to end their lives prematurely. Audrey Nicoll, a former police officer with 31 years’ experience, now says she will vote against the law because it exposes vulnerable Scots to “coercion and pressure…in ways which may be subtle and difficult to enunciate.”

Her reversal is not an isolated case. Other MSPs admit they can no longer support the bill in its current form, raising doubts about whether it can survive the final vote.

Their concerns are well‑founded. Key safeguards have already been rejected or removed. Amendments requiring doctors to receive specialist training in detecting coercion or ensuring that palliative or social care is offered before proceeding were dismissed during committee scrutiny. Even protections for healthcare workers who object on moral grounds cannot remain in the bill, because they fall under UK‑wide law and will need to be fixed after the Bill passes. This means that MSPs will be asked to vote blindfolded on a matter of life and death and then hand the reins to Westminster to finish the job. Labour MSP Michael Marra said this significant setback effectively “holes the bill below the waterline.”

Worse still, experience abroad shows that eligibility criteria tend to expand once assisted suicide is legalised. In Canada, what began as a narrow system for the terminally ill has widened dramatically, with those suffering only mental health conditions set to qualify next year. Audrey Nicoll warns that such “gradual broadening” is a real and foreseeable risk. Scotland would not be immune.

Supporters of the bill claim Scotland must show compassion. They are right — just not in the way they imagine. Compassion means ensuring people have access to excellent palliative care, emotional support, and a dignified death. It does not mean constructing a hurried, legally unstable system of state-assisted suicide that even its former advocates no longer trust to protect the vulnerable.

When a law dealing with irreversible decisions is rushed, weakened, and riddled with unanswered questions, the responsible course is clear: stop. Scotland should reject this dangerous bill and insist on a system that protects life, safeguards the vulnerable, and upholds the highest ethical and legal standards.

Anthony Horan, Director, Catholic Parliamentary Office for Scotland