"FURIOUS" women confronted an anti-abortion protest in Scotland over the weekend, video online has shown.
The protest and “light display” was held by the Scottish Family Party at Mercat Cross in Aberdeen on Saturday, and video shared by the group shows a girl approaching the display and taking a placard.
Two women in a clip shared by the Scottish Family Party confronted the protest, with one appearing to end up on the floor after she took the placard.
The Scottish Family Party has admitted the protest was held within the buffer zone around the Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, which extends over much of Mercat Cross.
The event took place on Saturday night, where a light display was held to commemorate 18,000 abortions the Scottish Family Party say were conducted last year.
In the video, a woman is seen taking a placard from the front of the display before she is approached by a man.
The next frame shows her on the ground surrounded by two men, one of whom snatches the placard out of her hands.
She can then be heard saying "get your f****** hands off me now".
Later on in the video, another woman is seen kicking down the same placard after it was put back in place.
Sharing the video, the Scottish Family Party posted: "Any expression of pro-life sentiment seems to elicit a furious response. This is the ethos being created by our media, political and educational elites. We just speak the truth!"
The incident comes after the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act came into force last September.
The legislation prohibits anyone from protesting against abortion within 200m of a healthcare facility offering abortion care.
Humanist Society Scotland CEO Fraser Sutherland has raised concerns about the protest potentially breaching the buffer zone laws.
He said: "Buffer zones are in force 24 hours a day, and if protests can be seen or heard within a buffer zone, police have the power to move them on.
"Groups such as the Scottish Family Party are currently desperate to give the impression that their voices are being silenced.
"In fact, they are free to protest against abortion anywhere in the country except for the entrances to abortion clinics. Buffer zones are a proportionate and humane measure that protect freedom of speech while ensuring the right to access healthcare free from intimidation, shaming, and harassment."
Scottish Greens spokesperson for health Gillian Mackay MSP said: “The Scottish Family Party are a band of anti-choice activists who pretend to be political. They would, if given the chance, roll back decades of hard-won women’s rights.
“This is a disgraceful new low and shows exactly the reason why buffer zones are so necessary.
“I am concerned that the misinformation spread by JD Vance has empowered some of the most reactionary and misogynistic forces in our country.
“I will contact Police Scotland and help them in any way I can to determine if there were any breaches of my Act and to stop these shocking protests and the harm they are causing to people seeking vital healthcare.”
Police Scotland have been approached for comment by The National.
Last week, a woman confronted protesters from 40 Days for Life who gathered near to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, just outside the buffer zone. They are due to be there until Easter Sunday on April 20.
El Johnstone, who lives nearby, saw the group from her bedroom window before she crossed the road and told the group: “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Johnstone added that the buffer zone should be expanded so campaigners cannot be in the vicinity of the hospital.
Richard Lucas, of the Scottish Family Party, said: "We were inside of a buffer zone.
"The clinic was closed, I understand."
Lucas seemed to suggest that he was not breaching the zone because the centre it surrounded was closed at the time and so no one would be accessing services, however when looking at the law in place, it would suggest buffer zones are active 24 hours a day.
Section 4(2) and Section 5(3) states that if a person commits an offence in a safe access zone, it does not matter whether another person is in the zone at the time the act is committed.
Section 5 also states a person who is in a relevant area relating to protected premises commits an offence if the person:
a) does an act that is capable of being seen or heard by another person who is within the safe access zone for the protected premises and
(b) does so with the intention of, or is reckless as to whether the act has the effect of—
(i) influencing the decision of another person to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at the protected premises,
(ii) preventing or impeding another person from accessing, providing or facilitating the provision of abortion services at the protected premises, or
(iii) causing harassment, alarm or distress to another person in connection with the other person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at the protected premises.
Lucas added: "For us it was a very peaceful and calm [event], and a time for reflection. People in the vicinity just went beserk.
"There is real hatred of the pro-life movement being stirred up by politicians, the media."
