A group of pro-choice activists took to Lothian Road today, Saturday April 23, to protest against pro life demonstrators who were holding an event by the Van Gogh exhibition at Festival Square.
A group of around 24 pro-choice campaigners positioned themselves adjacent to the rival group of around 50 pro lifers who were protesting for the removal or watering down of a women’s right to choose if they want an abortion.
The Edinburgh Abortion Rights group have assembled every year since 2012 on the fourth Saturday of April in order to celebrate the anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act becoming law.
They were sparked into action a decade ago after learning that pro life protestors were congregating to try to overturn legislation or reduce the ability for women to be able to access abortions.
The counter demonstration took place from 11am to 1pm on Lothian Road, by the Usher Hall.
Jane Carnall, 55, of Edinburgh and Scotland Abortion Rights, said: "We say that everyone who can get pregnant has the right to be able to decide to have an abortion if they need one.
"The Edinburgh Abortion Rights Group stands with our supporters to affirm the basic human right of abortion, and the presence of these fanatics to protest that right, shows we should never take for granted our right to access healthcare when we need it.
“On the other side of the road, the same kind of people assemble who have been protesting outside NHS hospitals for the past six weeks - the loud minority who think abortion should not be legal.
“There must have been around two dozen of us but around 50 of them. There was not any contact between the two sides really.”
Abortion protests have become a hot topic in Scotland with pro life groups targeting medical spaces that conduct the legal procedure.
Jane says that Edinburgh Abortion Rights group supports the campaign by Back Off Scotland that calls on the Scottish Government to introduce 150m buffer zones.
She continued: “Abortion is an essential reproductive healthcare option and a basic human right and we feel that the right to have an abortion safely, legally and locally is not something we should take for granted.
“There has been a big push in last few years from large groups in US that fund pro life activism all around the world in order to try and diminish access to abortion.
“It is not getting anywhere in Scotland thankfully but it seems as though their numbers are increasing. We recently saw hundreds outside a hospital in Glasgow protesting outside of a hospital that administered abortions.
“They’re still a minority because around 80 per cent of people in Scotland agree that woman should have the right to access an abortion.
“I think, but I cannot prove, that a lot of their funding is coming in from the US but we cannot say where it is going with regards to individual groups.
“You see the difference in resources with their expensive banners whereas we have home made signs.
“We feel it is unlikely they could do anything in the present circumstances to overturn the law but we do need to be keeping an eye on them and show there is an alternate presence.
“The fact that there are anti-choice MSP’s in Scottish parliament does make us squeamish about abortion rights being watered down.
“As what we want to see is greater protections. We are supporting a bill going through parliament at the moment for buffer zones to be put in place at medical spaces that are offering abortions.
“We believe people have the right to protest but it is just wrong to intimidate those going for treatment.
“Once an individual has made her choice, she should be able to go and have an abortion without being harrassed.”
A statement by Abortion Rights Scotland stated that although there is a minority in favour of watering down or removing abortion rights in Scotland, that Scotland should still remain vigilant.
A spokesperson for the organisation said: “The Abortion Act has been settled law for 55 years and generations of women have been able to take for granted that if they need an abortion, they can have one - safely, legally, locally.
“While the majority of people in Scotland accept that only the one who is pregnant can decide if she needs to abort her pregnancy, and she should be able to have an abortion on the NHS, a small minority think that Scotland should be more like certain states in the US where right-wing legislatures have lately been passing extreme abortion bans, sometimes causing all abortion access to be closed down in an entire state.
“During the six weeks before Easter, some of these people took part in a US-owned franchise called "40 Days for Life", and gathered outside NHS hospitals to protest patient access to reproductive healthcare in Scotland. A private members' bill has been proposed for Holyrood to put a stop to this harassment of patients.
“Abortion was never criminalised in Scotland prior to 1967: while often difficult to access, abortion in Scotland was treated as a private matter between a woman and her doctor.
“The 1967 Act made abortion more accessible, but also made abortion criminal except under specific circumstances defined by the legislation.
“Fifty-four years ago the Abortion Act became law in Scotland. Before the Act turns sixty we should decriminalise abortion completely - Scotland can and should become the first part of the UK where abortion is regulated like any other form of reproductive healthcare.”
It is not fully known who was behind the organised pro life protest but according to Jane, the ‘Society for the Protection of Unborn Children’ (SPUC) advertised the event on their site and that several of their banners were spotted at Festival Square.
SPUC have been contacted for comment.
