The Catholic Church in Scotland has delivered the first batch of campaigning cards opposing Margo MacDonald’s euthanasia Bill to the doors of the Scottish Parliament.

Representing thousands of voters across Scotland who are opposed to the introduction of assisted suicide and euthanasia through the End of Life Assistance Bill, the Catholic Parliamentary Office, led by John Deighan, dispatched the first of many sacks of support for “Care Not Killing”.

John Deighan, the Parliamentary Officer for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: “There are so many replies of support we are having to simply do shifts to shift the sacks, delivery not in a day but by the days.”

Mr Deighan continued: “Already we’ve been told by MSPs that, with over 14,000 replies, this is the largest public petition witnessed by our Parliament.”

The Parliamentary Officer for the Catholic Church emphasised that the response to its campaign had been overwhelmingly positive.

"This represents a real ground swell of Scottish opinion and our offices still have cards pouring in," he said.

“The response reflects the position found in the analysis of the committee consultation on the End of Life Assistance Bill, which would introduce assisted suicide and euthanasia, found that 86% of the 601 responses were opposed to the Bill.”

The Catholic Parliamentary Office has been a key partner in the ‘Care Not Killing’ alliance, which has members from Churches, disability groups, as well as the bioethical and medical fields.