CLAIMS made by US vice-president JD Vance about Scotland’s abortion buffer zones are “ludicrous”, Health Secretary Neil Gray has said.
Donald Trump’s deputy alleged that the Scottish Government had begun distributing letters to residents in the buffer zones “warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law”, and to “report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime”.
Safe access zones, a 200-metre wide area outside abortion clinics and hospitals, were introduced in Scotland in September.
Vance made the comments last Friday at the Munich Security Conference, citing concerns over “free speech”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said the allegations were “incorrect” and “people continue to have the right to protest and to free speech – however, no-one has the right to harass women”.
Vance said: “Now, I wish I could say that this was a fluke, a one-off, crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person, but no.
“This last October, just a few months ago, the Scottish Government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called safe access zones, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law.
“Naturally, the Government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime. In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”
SNP MSP Neil Gray said the claims were “ludicrous” and “wrong”, in an interview with STV.
Gray said: “The vice-president is wrong when it comes to abortion buffer zones, we need to make sure we protect women’s rights to access healthcare and that includes their right to access abortion services.
“It doesn’t proscribe silent prayer or prayer in people’s houses as he suggested, as that would be ludicrous.
“The legislation has been very carefully crafted to make sure we protect women’s rights to access health services while making sure we also protect freedom of speech in the context that means people can still safely access services.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The vice-president’s claim is incorrect. Private prayer at home is not prohibited within safe access zones and no letter has ever suggested it was.
“Safe access zones are designed to safeguard a woman’s right to access healthcare and protect their right to dignity and respect when they need it most.
“People continue to have the right to protest and to free speech, however, no-one has the right to harass women, or to try to influence without consent their decision to access healthcare, or to impede their access to it in any way.
“The act, passed overwhelmingly by Parliament, has been carefully drafted to capture only intentional or reckless behaviour close to a small number of premises providing abortion services.
“It does not, and has never been intended to, criminalise any particular action, including silent prayer.”
