ON Wednesday afternoon, Rose Docherty became the first person to be arrested under Scotland’s new abortion buffer zone law.
The 74-year-old from Bishopbriggs was standing on Glasgow’s Hardgate Road - a popular place for anti-abortion protesters in recent years, due to it being near the entrance to the maternity unit at Queen Elizabeth University hospital.
She held a black and white sign reading "coercion is a crime, here to talk, if you want".
It was more subtle than the large placard with an image of a foetus and the words “abortion is not healthcare” Docherty has been pictured with at past protests outside the hospital.
More subtle even than the sign she was snapped with during a protest in the exact same location in 2022, which read: “Women do regret abortions.”
But it was a familiar scene. The sort of act which led to the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 being introduced in the first place – which makes it an offence to protest outside an abortion clinic in a way that “might stop a person from getting an abortion or make them feel scared or upset about getting an abortion”, according to the official Scottish Parliament overview of the legislation.
In any case, the alleged conduct was seemingly apparent enough for officers to place Docherty in handcuffs and lead her to the police van – all captured in a video posted on social media by Lois McLatchie Miller – who describes herself as a “Poplitico. British Cuteservative. Comms artist” and also posted a viral video days earlier of Docherty being approached and seemingly given a warning by police at the same location.
“This is what Rose was arrested for,” she wrote.
This is what Rose was arrested for. Standing. With a sign. Inviting anyone who wants to talk, to do so. DAYS after VP Vance called out the Scottish gov for their draconian law. pic.twitter.com/1XZbctRjjQ
— Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) February 20, 2025
“Standing. With a sign. Inviting anyone who wants to talk, to do so. DAYS after VP Vance called out the Scottish Government for their draconian law.”
US vice-president JD Vance sparked outrage last week after wrongly claiming in a major speech that “even private prayer within a person’s own home may amount to breaking the law” – in reference to Scotland’s abortion buffer zone legislation. He then further claimed that the Scottish Government had urged people to report “any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime”.
It was language that Miller echoed in her social media posts. The whole scene which led to Docherty’s arrest was advertised as innocent, silent, almost coincidental.
But what isn’t made clear is that both Docherty and McLatchie are also connected to two incredibly well-funded US anti-abortion groups.
The Daily Record previously reported on how Docherty was tracked down and recruited by 40 Days For Life – a group which began in Texas before expanding worldwide.
Yesterday, 40 Days For Life described her as a “leader in Scotland”.
The group still has the area outside the Glasgow hospital marked as part of its global campaign to protest against abortion, which includes hundreds of locations around the world – indicating the group will still hold “silent vigils” despite Wednesday’s arrest, from March 5 until April 13.
Viral video sharer Miller, meanwhile, is a senior communications officer with ADF International – the UK offshoot of a US right-wing Christian lobby group that wants abortion to be banned and has been designated as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.
And this connection, as well as increased activity both online and offline from these groups and more over the past few days, has led abortion buffer zones campaigners and Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay to suggest it may be the start of a co-ordinated attempt by US-backed groups – emboldened by JD Vance’s comments and Donald Trump’s presidency – to undermine Scotland’s abortion buffer zones.
But who are these US anti-abortion groups?
ADF International is the UK branch of the right-wing “hate group” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Founded in 1993, ADF is one of the major forces that helped push for the US Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion in the US.
The organisation has major links to senior American politicians including Republican senator Josh Hawley, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
Its UK offshoot supports anti-abortion protests across the UK and has increased its spending in 2022 to £770,000, according to its latest filings with Companies House. Its income almost doubled between 2022 and 2023 too, from £553,823 to £1,068,552.
The group – which previously voiced support for outlawing sexual acts between consenting LGBT+ adults – doesn’t reveal the sources of its funding, although does admit “the charity has received financial support in the form of unrestricted donations from Alliance Defending Freedom, a linked charity in the US”, which, it adds, “do not require repayment”.
ADF International has increased its lobbying efforts at Westminster in recent years according to The Guardian, with recent accounts claiming it has engaged with “significant decision-makers” – including providing “briefing material and legal analysis” to several MPs ahead of a vote on abortion buffer zone legislation in England and Wales.
Since that buffer zone legislation was passed, ADF International has provided legal support to protesters in Birmingham and Bournemouth who have been arrested for breaching it.
This includes Adam Smith-Connor, whose case was name-checked by Vance during his aforementioned speech.
In the US, the group which has previously supported outlawing sexual acts between consenting LGBT+ adults makes broad use of donor advised funds, a controversial loophole which allows millions of dollars to be donated in complete anonymity. A recent investigation by openDemocracy showed that ADF received 43% of its income between 2017 and 2020 using this loophole.
The 40 Days For Life group was set up in 2004 by people protesting at an abortion facility in Texas.
It has since expanded its network through the southern states of America before infiltrating new countries to become a worldwide group.
The group describes itself as “an internationally co-ordinated 40-day campaign that aims to end abortion locally through prayer and fasting, community outreach and a peaceful all-day vigil in front of abortion businesses”.
Its website claims that its actions have closed 145 abortion centres, and has a counter for the number of supposed "lives saved" and abortion workers who have "quit" their jobs due to its interventions.
The group has previously said it has a network of “several hundred” volunteers in Scotland.
And just yesterday, it claimed that Docherty is a “40 Days For Life leader in Scotland”.
Hitting out at the arrest, the group reshared a post from anti-abortion “news website” LifeNews.com, adding: “Buffer zones are now a tool for pro-abortion tyranny - starting with the arrest of a 74-year-old 40 Days For Life leader in Scotland. Her 'crime'? Holding a sign offering help. This isn’t about safety – it’s about silencing pro-lifers.”
In a separate post, where it names Rose as the protester arrested, the group writes: "We live in very exciting times where the carpet underneath abortion providers, supporters, and politicians can be pulled from beneath their feet in a moment without notification."
Another US-backed group which has been vocally supporting Docherty after her arrest – retweeting Miller’s video and sharing its own content online – is the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC).
The UK-based anti-abortion group gives talks to schoolchildren across Scotland about what it calls “coerced abortion”.
Vice World News reported in 2022 that the organisation received nearly £73,000 ($91,885) from an anonymous US donor through an agency called NPT Transatlantic. The agency facilitates donations across the Atlantic without donors having to reveal their names.
Its latest filings show that the Scottish branch of the group received £365,212 in donations – mostly unnamed donations and “legacies”.
The organisation also received £3628 in restricted funds from the Tim Tebow Foundation – named after the famous NFL quarterback who is anti-abortion himself.
This funding, however, may be related to the group’s involvement in “Night to Shine Scotland” – a prom night experience for young people with special needs.
After Docherty’s arrest, SPUC hit out at both Police Scotland and Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay who spearheaded the buffer zones legislation.
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s editorial officer, said: “Free speech and the right to religious expression are under constant attack across the UK, and the targeting of pro-life Christians by the state is also on the rise. Thankfully, people on both sides of the Atlantic are beginning to wake up to the illiberalism and censorious instincts of politicians like Mackay.”
Mackay (above), meanwhile, told the Sunday National that these groups are “well funded and well organised”.
“I think we can see that from the protests we've had previously, and also from what was going on around the Queen Elizabeth hospital this week. There were people to film what was happening with that protest and with the arrest.
“So, they are well organised, they are well funded, and I think that needs to be a concern to everyone.”
She added: “I think people do need to be aware that we're not talking about some small self-organised group, we are talking about an internationally connected and well-funded set of organisations who are here to deliberately undermine access to healthcare as well as, now it seems, the law that Parliament passed overwhelmingly.”
Mackay also suggested that the arrest may have been planned.
“It filters on from the trends we saw with the public spaces protection orders. And in England, as well, where people were deliberately getting themselves arrested and then trying to take their arrest through court to try and undermine the legislation,” she said.
“And, I think, given their funding, given their organisation, and given the fact that many of these organisations will have been involved in some of those court cases in England, this is where the playbook is.”
ADF International’s Miller, meanwhile, said: “The National’s attempt to mischaracterise Rose Docherty’s actions as anything short of peaceful and charitable shows a disgraceful lack of journalistic integrity. Deflecting attention to overseas distracts from the real issues Scotland faces regarding a skyrocketing abortion rate – a symptom of women in crisis. Do better.”
40 Days For Life and the SPUC were approached for comment.
