A Scottish National party MSP has been reprimanded for defending anti-abortion protests outside health clinics.
In a written warning from party whips at Holyrood, John Mason, the Glasgow Shettleston MSP, was accused of causing “great distress and trauma to many women”.
Mason has previously defended protests that have been gathering momentum across Scotland, describing them as “gentle” and “vigils” and suggesting that “some clinics seem to be pushing abortion without laying out the pros and cons”.
In a letter leaked to the Daily Record, the SNP MPs Stuart McMillan and Gordon MacDonald wrote: “We would like to make it clear that we absolutely respect your right to hold your views on abortion and your right to freedom of speech and expression. We do not, however, believe that you have the right to impose these views on others.
“The verbalisation of your views has caused great distress and trauma to many women and have also been regarded as misinformation by medical professionals. As you know, the first minister has committed to exploring all possible options to ensure safe access zones for women and girls accessing healthcare.”
The letter was sent days after Nicola Sturgeon hosted a roundtable summit to explore the introduction of buffer zones to prevent protests taking place immediately outside clinics and hospitals amid concerns about rising anti-abortion activity in Scotland.
In April, Dr Greg Irwin, a consultant paediatric radiologist, coordinated a letter signed by 76 colleagues at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University hospital asking the Scottish government to “show courage” over buffer zones, after their maternity unit had been regularly targeted by the Texas-based group of 40 Days for Life.
Lucy Grieve, a co-founder of Back Off Scotland, which campaigns for the introduction of buffer zones, said: “John Mason is obviously entitled to his own views on abortion, but he cannot use his platform as a parliamentarian to spread harmful narratives about abortion access in Scotland. Whilst we’re glad the SNP have taken action on this, John has continued to spread misinformation and cause distress since this letter was sent in June, which is unacceptable.”
After the Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay launched a members’ bill to safeguard access to services, Sturgeon committed to working with her “to safeguard the access of women to abortion services without harassment or intimidation” when she announced her programme for government at the beginning of September.
Mason said he would not be commenting until after the Queen’s funeral.
