Anger at speed of progress on buffer zones at abortion clinics
- Published
40 Days for Life is a Texan organisation with supporters in Scotland
Pro-choice activists are calling on MSPs to speed up the creation of buffer zones around Scotland's abortion clinics.
The Scottish government is backing a bill which would ban anti-abortion groups from gathering outside clinics.
But campaigners for buffer zones say Scotland is being left behind the rest of the UK.
The call comes as the 40 Days for Life group begins its latest six-week presence outside abortion facilities.
The group was started in Texas but now campaigns worldwide.
Twice a year its members pray and stand with placards outside clinical sites such as the Chalmers Centre in Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
About 13,000 women have an abortion in Scotland every year. It is their legal right and has been since 1968, with polls indicating the majority of people in the UK support it.
There is cross-party backing at Holyrood for a law to end groups targeting abortion centres.
Green MSP Gillian Mackay's Holyrood bill will create abortion clinic buffer zones
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gave the Scottish government's backing to a member's bill protecting access to terminations last year. She said people were entitled to differing views on abortion, but women should not be intimidated while accessing healthcare.
Her successor, Humza Yousaf, has also given his support to the bill lodged in June by the Green MSP Gillian Mackay. It calls for the creation of 150m (492ft) "safe access" zones around facilities which carry out abortions and other health services.
The bill now faces months of parliamentary scrutiny before being voted into law with many of those who campaigned for buffer zones frustrated at the time this is taking.
Back off Scotland's Alice Murray is frustrated by the progress of the bill
Alice Murray, of Back Off Scotland, a campaigning group which wants curbs on protests near clinics, said the group was grateful for Gillian Mackay's bill but she said she felt frustrated that it was not yet law.
"We have no idea when the bill is going to be passed. I doubt that it will be possible until well into next year," she said.
Ms Murray joined Back Off Scotland after she was confronted by a group when she went to a clinic to have an abortion.
"I'm really frustrated that there will be lots of patients and staff and by-standers still being affected. As someone who has experienced it, it is very upsetting to see it happen again" she added.
Scotland 'being left behind'
Dr Greg Irwin is a consultant paediatric radiologist at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and has long been on the frontline of the buffer zone debate.
In April 2022 he co-ordinated a letter signed by 76 colleagues calling on the Scottish government to "show courage" on buffer zones. He has regularly confronted members of 40 Days for Life outside his workplace.
Dr Greg Irwin regularly confronts anti-abortion groups outside the QEUH
He too is frustrated that the protests are coming back.
"It is just extremely disappointing. When they pack up and go away you feel a weight off your shoulders. We are super busy in the hospital. You really don't want to put up with this," he said.
"When you hear them coming back all the feelings of anger and frustration come back again."
Buffer zones are now law in England and Wales and come into force in Northern Ireland on Friday after a protracted court battle.
Dr Irwin believes Holyrood needs to catch up.
"It's all very well saying it's going to happen in the future but there's no way of knowing when that's going to be," he said.
"There must be a way of fast-tracking it. If Northern Ireland can get this through then the Scottish Parliament can surely do it. We are being left behind here. The women of Scotland are not being as well served as the other parts of the UK."
'We will not let you down'
Ms Mackay, the MSP behind the safe access zones bill, said the presence of protests and banners outside clinics was wrong and "their days of harassment are coming to an end".
"We have made really important progress and are on the verge of bringing forward legislation that will finally put a stop to these awful protests," she said.
"I know that the parliamentary process is a long one. I am determined that we get it right and that we do it as quickly as possible."
Some campaigners have placards with pictures of foetuses
Women's Health Minister Jenni Minto said: "It is completely unacceptable for women to face any fear of harassment, intimidation or unwanted influence when accessing essential healthcare services - and the same goes for healthcare staff doing their job.
"That is why we are working hard to support Gillian Mackay MSP with her member's bill, which will deliver national legislation on safe access zones. The bill will be introduced to parliament as soon as possible."
The 40 Days for Life group has previously told BBC Scotland News it would mount a legal challenge to any proposed legislation.
Its chief executive and president, Shawn Carney, said he was proud of the Scots taking part in their "peaceful...vigils".
"Their continued presence is a victory for all in the west who seek to preserve free speech when that speech is both popular and unpopular," he said.
"We continue to fight this and have every option on the table, hoping that the biased political targeting of 40 Days for Life, started by Sturgeon, is defeated by rationalism and freedom."
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