The bishops of Scotland have urged politicians to reject an “extreme abortion law” following the leaking of a Scottish National Party conference draft agenda. The leaked agenda included a motion calling for Scottish law to be changed to decriminalise women performing their own abortions for any reason, including up to birth and for sex-selective purposes.

Anthony Horgan, Director of the Scottish Parliamentary Office, said the revelation of the motion was “deeply troubling”.

“Human life possesses inherent dignity and worth from conception until natural death, and any proposal that would further weaken safeguards for unborn children, including abortion up to the point of birth and sex-selective abortion, raises profound moral and ethical concerns,” he said in a September 8 statement.

The information had been obtained by the National newspaper ahead of the SNP party conference in October. The motion called for a change in the law which it claimed would make the act of a woman performing her own abortion “rooted in human rights and equality of access, not criminal law”.

Horgan urged the SNP, other parties and politicians in Holyrood to “uphold both compassion for women facing difficult pregnancies and protection for the most vulnerable members of our human family.”

“Rather than expanding access to abortion, Scotland should focus on providing practical support to mothers, children and families, ensuring that no woman feels alone or without alternatives,” he said.

“What the people of Scotland need now is for the government, political parties and MSPs to focus on the priorities that affect daily life: easing the cost-of-living pressures facing households, addressing the housing crisis, strengthening local health services, improving access to high-quality palliative care and working for peace and reconciliation both at home and abroad.

“We do not need an extreme abortion law. Scotland deserves better.”

The proposals follow a 2025 review of Scotland’s abortion laws commissioned by the then First Minister Humza Yousaf, which recommended that the Government remove the 24-week abortion limit and allow abortions on social grounds. Under such recommendations, it would allow for sex-selective purposes and abortions up to birth.

If the recommendations were adopted, Scotland would have some of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.

Delegates at the SNP National Conference in September 2024 voted for a resolution which called for enshrining the right to abortion in a future constitution of an independent Scotland.

According to an extensive UK-wide poll conducted by Savanta ComRes, 89 per cent of the general population and 91 per cent of women support the outlawing of sex-selective abortion, with only 1 per cent of women supporting the introduction of up to birth abortion.