An ‘assisted dying’ Bill before the Scottish Parliament normalises suicide and rejects our “common responsibility” to protect human life, the country’s Catholic Bishops have warned.

In a pastoral letter, they said: “We are called to care, not to kill.”

The Bishops wrote to parishioners: “At a time when suicide is on the rise in Scotland and we are doing our best to reduce it, what message are we sending to those who are vulnerable when we say that suicide is okay provided it is overseen by a doctor?

“Assisted suicide, which allows us to kill our brothers and sisters, takes us down a dangerous spiral that always puts at risk the most vulnerable members of our society”.

Catholics across Scotland were asked by the Bishop’s Conference to contact their MSPs to urge them “to reject the dangerous proposal”. The letter also said the legislation “would devalue life and put immense pressure on the most vulnerable to end their lives prematurely”.