Updated March 18, 2026
EDINBURGH, Scotland (LifeSiteNews) — The Scottish Parliament stunned the world on Tuesday by unexpectedly rejecting the legalization of euthanasia, in a major victory for the right to life.
Scottish lawmakers defeated so-called “assisted dying” legislation in a 69–57 vote, despite Parliament previously advancing the bill 70-56 last May. Twelve MSPs who supported the bill switched their votes over concerns about the risk of coercion, lack of oversight, and other problems, dooming the measure.
According to the Guardian, this was a “larger margin than expected, despite a series of last-minute amendments designed to placate critics of the private member’s bill.” The leftist newspaper attributed the derailing of the legislation to “a concerted campaign” by “critics and religious groups.”
Liberal globalist outlet Reuters also lamented the vote as “crushing hopes for a historic law change.”
However, the Catholic Church and pro-life advocates ecstatically celebrated the bill’s defeat.
“Prayer is what moved hearts on this important issue. We are over the moon. Glory be to God that life has triumphed tonight!” the Catholic bishops of Scotland told EWTN News.
Right to Life UK hailed the vote, which followed two years of debate and “the most intense scrutiny that the question of assisted suicide has ever received in Scotland,” as “settling the issue in Scotland for a generation.”
“This is a great victory for the most vulnerable in our society,” Right to Life UK Chief Executive Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan said. “A large number of MSPs from across the political spectrum came together today to recognise the dangers this Bill posed and have rightly rejected it.”
“The question of assisted suicide has dominated the five-year term of the current Scottish Parliament. The issue is now settled for a generation,” he added.
Tuesday’s vote is a surprising setback for the euthanasia movement, which has made significant gains in the West in recent years. Scotland, a highly secularized country, would have been the first part of the U.K. to legalize assisted suicide.
The failed vote comes as a similar bill in the U.K. Parliament pushed by leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces massive backlash and is also expected to fail. Right to Life UK praised the demise of the Scottish bill as “likely striking a mortal blow” to the U.K.’s legislation.
Various prominent liberal MSPs opposed the euthanasia measure on Tuesday, including Scottish First Minister John Swinney, as well as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and deputy leader Jackie Baillie, and former First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
Baillie called Tuesday’s vote the most “consequential of the devolution era” and raised concerns about the lack of funding for palliative care.
Ruth Maguire, an SNP MSP diagnosed with cervical cancer, likewise advocated against the bill, saying it “frightens” her.
“My blood runs cold thinking about sitting in a room in hospital and having a doctor raise [assisted suicide] with me as we weigh up treatment options,” she said. “In voting against the bill I’m just choosing to vote for the inherent dignity of life and I urge colleagues to do the same.”
READ: Canada to reach ‘grim milestone’ of 100k euthanasia deaths this summer
Titled the “Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill” and introduced by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur, the legislation would have allowed medical professionals to give lethal drugs to Scottish residents deemed “terminally ill” if two practitioners signed off.
McArthur said after the vote that he was “devastated” by the result.
Catholic bishops denounced euthanasia bill as ‘serious threat’
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland (BCOS) condemned the bill, with BCOS President Bishop John Keenan calling it a “serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those who suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse.”
The bishop pointed out in a recent press release that Parliament had voted against an “institutional opt-out” for the bill, “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.”
“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,” he stressed.
Bishop Keenan commended the failure of the bill in a statement, saying, “MSPs can be confident that they have taken the correct and responsible course of action. Their vote serves to protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.”
“Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it.”
Scotland Rejects Assisted Dying and Affirms Human Dignity
Following the defeat of the Assisted Dying Bill last night, the Bishops of Scotland have issued a statement. You can read the full statement on our website: https://t.co/7wa811992i pic.twitter.com/0vDJMpF1MA
— RC Diocese of Galloway (@rcdgalloway) March 18, 2026
Paul Atkin, the pro-life officer for the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, emphasized “the strength of engagement across our archdiocese” in comments to EWTN News. Of the 12 MSPs who switched their votes, eight represent constituencies in the archdiocese.
“The defeat of this bill is a welcome result, reflecting the strength of engagement across our archdiocese. From the archbishop’s leadership to parishes who organized hundreds of letters, this was a united effort which made the difference,” he said, praising the “polite, persistent engagement from the Catholic community.”
MSPs had notably stripped the bill of conscience protections for health care professionals, prompting medical associations to oppose it, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, the Association of Palliative Medicine, and the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers, as Right to Life UK noted.
Other social work associations and more than a dozen disability advocacy groups also came out against the legislation.
Right to Life UK highlighted polling finding overwhelming concern among Scots (70 percent) that domestic abuse victims could be coerced into assisted suicide, as well as strong support (69 percent) for Parliament prioritizing care for the disabled before any legalization of assisted suicide.
The Catholic Church rejects all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide as “morally unacceptable.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.”
“Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged,” the Catechism adds.
“It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life,” it further states. “We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.”