The Catholic Parliamentary Office has warned that a Scottish National Party (SNP) conference motion seeking to ban conversion practices risks treating ordinary conversations and supportive care as “suspect”. The motion stated that “the only acceptable ban” on conversion practices would be a total ban, including in religious settings, even if the person consents.
Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, Anthony Horan, stated that, while he shared “the determination to protect every person from violence, coercion and abuse” and strongly believed that “such conduct should be addressed effectively under the law”, the motion proposed a prohibition of “exceptional breadth”.
