Pro-choice campaigners have pre-empted a group of anti-abortion protesters on their final day of action outside a Glasgow maternity unit with a huge display of posters.
The metres-long display of around 200 cardboard signs, bearing messages such as "bans don't stop abortions - they stop safe abortions" and "my rights, my body, my choice", were arranged by LGBTQ+ protest group Cabaret Against The Hate Speech (CATHS). They were put up before members of 40 Days for Life arrived outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on Sunday for the last of 40 days of anti-choice action.
40 Days for Life, which is linked to an US Christian organisation of the same name, has staged almost six weeks of protests outside the Glasgow hospital's maternity unit in a bid to dissuade women from ending pregnancies. It claims to be a non-confrontational organisation, but in the past it has been accused of intimidating women as they head for difficult termination appointments.
Cabaret Against The Hate Speech has hailed the response after it put a call out for signs last month. Activists went out at 7am on April 2, an hour before 40 Days For Life was due to arrive, and lined the fence opposite the QEUH entrance with pro-choice placards.
A spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ organisation said: "It's a wonderful thing, to have activism through art. We have had residents, NHS staff, other people come up to look at them, some even before starting their shift at the hospital, to thank us.
"To us, it looks like the voice of Glasgow has spoken.
"We don't judge people's choices, but abortion is about choice. We're not saying don't have an abortion, or do – it's about leaving the choice up to the individual.
"Our message is purely that we are pro-choice and want everyone to have access to safe and legal healthcare. 40 Days For Life are not trained medical professionals and if you take away access to safe and legal abortions you are putting people in danger."
Between four and six members of 40 Days for Life have been outside the QEUH since 8am today, and have been met with what CATHS says is a "gentle counter-protest". However, the police were called following a report of a noise complaint after counter-protesters played music to drown out the activists.
40DFL's latest protest, part of a long line of ongoing actions outside maternity units, could be the last if new buffer zone legislation is passed that would prevent demonstrators from gathering outside maternity units. Newly appointed First Minister Humza Yousaf has already committed to bringing in the law, introduced to Parliament by Green MSP Gillian MacKay.
In a letter to campaign group Back Off Scotland last month, he said he "unequivocally" supports bringing in the legislation "as quickly as is practicable". The CATHS spokesperson added of the protests: "I hope this is the last time 40 Days For Life will legally be able to do this."
Abortion rights campaigner Gemma Clark has expressed support for those putting up the signs and has called on Mr Yousaf to act as quickly as possible on the protest ban.
She told the Record: "I have been contacted by many members of the public and even QEUH staff who feel harassed by the presence of these protesters. Scotland is a liberal country and protests who are being organised by Texan fundamentalists are not welcome here.
"I hope Humza Yousaf and the new Women’s Minister will be able to bring forward buffer zone legislation as soon as possible. Women and patients need reassurance that our right to harassment free healthcare is enshrined in law."
One local resident, who spoke to the Record on condition of anonymity, added: "Humza Yousaf is the local MSP for my area, he's also now First Minister of Scotland. He has the opportunity to make this the last ever 40 Days For Life protest next to hospital grounds.
"The harassment of my neighbours, patients and NHS staff needs to end. We all have a right to healthcare and to body autonomy, the First Minister of Scotland needs to protect this."
Police Scotland was contacted for comment.
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