BUFFER zones banning anti-abortion protesters from demonstrating outside clinics in Scotland can and will be extended if activists continue to harass patients going for treatment, an MSP has warned.
On Wednesday, the newly-established Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act will get its first big test as supporters of the US anti-abortion group 40 Days for Life plan to gather outside Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for the start of a series of “vigils” lasting from March 5 to April 13.
The act came into force last year and prohibits anti-abortion activists from protesting within 200m (656ft) of 30 clinics offering abortion services in Scotland.
Green MSP Gillian Mackay – who spearheaded the legislation – has said while the group has pledged not to breach the 200m buffer zone surrounding the outer boundary of the Glasgow hospital, patients and staff must report to her or the Scottish Government if they experience any kind of harassment or intrusion on their privacy.
This would allow ministers to consider whether the zone needs to be extended beyond 200m in future, something there is provision in the bill for due to some of the geographical challenges more urban sites presented.
Protesters are reportedly planning to stand at the junction of Hardgate Road and Shieldhall Road, which is right on the edge of the zone.
Mackay said she is confident the Government will be able to act to protect patients and staff should demonstrators cause problems on the fringes of protest-free areas.
She told the Sunday National: “It is a huge test of the legislation and one of the interesting things for me is going to be where they stand.
“There was a reason we kept a provision in the bill that if there were particular issues at particular sites, we could extend the zone, and if people are witnessing these protesters and they are outside the zone, we need people to get in touch.
“If they are still in a place where they can be seen, where people are having all the same issues, people need to get in touch with me, or the Government, and make sure that we know of those issues. I am confident that we have the tools at hand to be able to do something about it should we need to but that relies on people and staff being vigilant.
“The first couple of years was always going to be a learning experience for ourselves, for the police, for staff, for folk going to the hospital, as to whether we were going to see any activity or not and whether, if we did, any of the zones would need extended, depending on where they were and what the tactics being used were as well.”
Since the passage of the law last year, there had been little sign of anti-abortion protesters targeting clinics in Scotland until last week when a 74-year-old woman became the first person to be arrested for demonstrating near the Glasgow hospital.
This came after US vice-president JD Vance took aim at Scotland’s buffer zones and incorrectly claimed people who live within them had been sent letters by the Scottish Government warning them about praying within their own homes.
The Scottish Government said no letters had been sent out saying people could not pray in their homes, and only "intentional or reckless behaviour" was covered by the act.
Mackay said the abuse she has received on social media since Vance’s intervention has intensified and admitted she does have fears about the right-wing narrative surrounding the new law.
“I think previously it was quite difficult on a global stage for some of these views to have that legitimate voice or that level of power of voice,” she went on.
“If you look at my Twitter mentions, it’s a bin fire. It was a bin fire when the bill was going through and it’s definitely got worse.
“Constantly being called a baby murderer is quite something. It’s been fairly constant since Vance’s comments.
“It’s also different people. You could see the same cohort cropping up again and again during the passage of the bill, probably a lot of them were Scottish. There are a lot more Americans and people with MAGA [Make America Great Again] in their profiles now popping up.”
Amid misinformation continuing to spread online about prayer within private dwellings inside a buffer zone, Mackay stressed that prayer is not banned under the act.
She explained the reason there is provision for private homes in the law is because of some acts seen across the Atlantic, such as anti-abortion banners being displayed on people’s houses.
“It’s all about the effect of the behaviour which JD Vance was happy to gloss over and make it a culture war,” she said.
Mackay added: “There are some folks who are absolutely fixated that we are banning prayer, partly because of what JD Vance said. Prayer is not banned under the act anywhere – in your own home, in the street, anywhere.
“It’s that presence around the hospital that is very intimidating to people. The reason that provision for homes is in there is because of what we’ve seen in the States with people passing leaflets over walls in gardens or putting a banner up on their house.”
Ahead of the 40 Days for Life protests starting, the Green MSP urged those wishing to demonstrate their views against the law to do so outside the Scottish Parliament and not close to clinics.
“I would thoroughly encourage people not to be outside the Queen Elizabeth or any other hospital next week,” she said.
“Groups have shown they know they can protest outside Parliament and that is a far more appropriate place to be.”
