A campaign group calling for protest-free buffer zones to be introduced outside hospitals and clinics has said that national legislation is the only way to stop anti-abortion groups.
Back Off Scotland was among the organisations at an emergency summit on abortion care in Scotland chaired by Nicola Sturgeon on Monday.
Following the 'positive' meeting, the group has said that although interim measures will allow local authorities to curb the protestors, the rules must be implemented across Scotland to stamp out the harassment.
Read more: Glasgow anti-abortion buffer zones could be first in Scotland to curb protests outside clinics
Founder Lucy Grieve believes that anti-abortion groups will be undeterred by measures introduced by the local authorities as they could just travel elsewhere in the country.
She also believes that there is 'no political will' to introduce the measures in some parts of the country.
Speaking to Glasgow Live, she said: "It was great to hear support for national buffer zones and a commitment to look at things in the interim which feels very positive. It was very clear that everyone at the summit was on the same page.
"We were very clear that we didn't want it just to be all the power given to local authorities and Nicola Sturgeon said herself that it needs to be an interim measure only in lieu of national legislation.
"We need national legislation because there are over 30 councils in Scotland. The groups will move, we know that they are active in loads of different areas and there's no political will in a number of councils to implement the buffer zones."
At the summit, the First Minister committed to supporting the member's bill, introduced by Green MSP Gillian Mackay, calling for the protest-free zones and said that the Government would work with councils and the police in the short term to deal with the protests.
We previously reported how Glasgow could become the first area in Scotland to introduce the buffer zones after both the Sandyford clinic and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were targeted in recent months.
The SNP leader and public health minister Maree Todd said: "Clearly we need to have discussions with councils on this issue. At the moment, most of the concern is arising in Glasgow so that would be an obvious place to start, but I'm more than happy to have discussions with any council that is willing to seek a legal opinion and funding on that."
Back Off Scotland also raised the issue of women and girls being forced to travel 700 miles to England to get an abortion if they're over 15 weeks.
While abortion is legal up to 24 weeks in Scotland it is increasingly difficult to access in later stages.
Eight health boards don't carry out the procedure beyond 18 weeks, four have a limit of 20 weeks, while NHS Fife has a bar of 15 weeks and five days.
NHS England stats showed that between 2010 and 2020, 2,057 women resident in Scotland had abortions carried out in England or Wales, while in 2020 the figure was 123, and in 2019 some 90 women traveled down south.
Lucy added: "We raised the issue of women being forced to travel to England for abortions and the Government put their hands up and said they need to do better on it which was great.
"They said there is a lot to do and that they are committed to doing it.
"The First Minister requested a follow-up summit in six weeks which is welcomed by us because there will have to be some tangible difference by then.
"As well as that, there was a commitment to working collaboratively to find interim solutions and to give more advice to abortion care providers and also local authorities and police as to what powers they have to stop the worst felt protests."
The summit came just days after America's Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade decision which legalised abortion in all 50 states. The decision to permit abortions will now be on a state-by-state basis.
Nicola Sturgeon said the decision would have 'immediate consequences' for women in the US and said it would 'embolden anti-abortion and anti-women forces in other countries too'.
Back Off Scotland fears that the upcoming 14-days of protests in September could see demonstrators turn out in greater numbers than before due to the ruling without interim measures in place.
Lucy added: "We support anything that's going to be giving people peace of mind when they're going to be attending clinics or attending their job. We obviously want to emphasise that local authority solutions are only for the interim but are important until the national legislation is implemented
"Until then, working collaboratively I think this is a real chance to take stock of abortion rights and policy in Scotland and strengthen them.
"We will continue to raise awareness, keep the momentum up and keep the public's gaze on this and try to keep abortion in Scotland and things that can be strengthened on everybody's mind."
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