Scotland’s Catholic bishops are responding to a renewed political effort to decriminalize abortion in their country, condemning a Green Party push to treat abortion as “health care” and calling on legislators to invest in measures that actually protect and support mothers.
Last week, the Green Party called on the current Scottish government to act on a November 2025 report from a government-appointed expert group that recommended decriminalization of abortion and legalizing abortion on request up to 24 weeks.
“We are deeply disturbed that the Scottish Greens believe abortion should be treated ‘like any other healthcare procedure’,” said Bishop John Keenan of Paisley in a statement shared with Crux Now on Saturday afternoon.
Keenan leads the Scottish bishops’ commission on marriage, family, and life.
“This claim simply does not match the brutal reality of abortion, which is the deliberate ending of an innocent, defenseless human life,” the bishops’ statement said.
The Green Party in Scotland has roughly 10 thousand members in the country of 5.6 million people and holds 15 seats in the 129-member national parliament.
From 2021 to 2024, the Greens held two ministerial billets in the Scottish government, the first time Green Party politicians held power in any government of any country in the United Kingdom.
Abortion is already widely available in Scotland, but not upon demand, and seeking or providing abortion care outside legal pathways is a crime at Scottish law.
“Every human life possesses inherent dignity and worth,” the bishops said, “a dignity that does not depend upon age, size, ability, dependency or stage of development,” from conception to natural death.
“A just and compassionate society should recognize and protect the lives of both mother and child,” the bishops said, “especially when either is vulnerable.”
“We urge the Scottish Government, and all MSPs, to reflect carefully on the ethical, medical and social implications of these proposals,” the bishops said.
Scotland’s Catholic leaders also called for greater investment in maternity services, perinatal mental health support, family assistance programs, pregnancy counselling, and practical support for women facing challenging pregnancies.
“Scotland should aspire to be a society where no woman feels abandoned during pregnancy and where every human life is welcomed, valued and protected,” the bishops said.
The bishops said debate on abortion in Scotland “often focuses exclusively on autonomy and choice,” and neglects other crucial considerations, among them “responsibilities and the rights of others, including those who are unable to speak for themselves.”
“Rather than removing legal protections for unborn children,” the bishops said, “we should work together to build a culture of solidarity, care and compassion for both mother and child.”
Abortion “can never be regarded as simply another healthcare intervention,” they said, “nor can it ever be described as ‘safe’.”
“Medicine exists to heal, protect and care for human life,” the bishops said, noting as well how “women can face profoundly difficult and distressing circumstances during pregnancy.”
“[S]ociety’s response,” the bishops said, “should be to offer practical support, compassionate care and genuine alternatives rather than measures that further weaken protection for the unborn.”
“There is a better way than abortion,” they said.
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