NICOLA Sturgeon has criticised her party colleague John Mason for claiming clinics are "pushing abortion".
Mason said on social media that clinics "push abortion without laying out the pros and cons", sparking an enormous backlash from pro-choice campaigners.
In an email to campaign group Back Off Scotland, which seeks to implement buffer zones around abortion providers, Mason said he had attended one of the events to speak to people there.
Tweeting about the subject at the weekend, he said clinics did not always ask women how they feel.
He went on to say he believed abortion was “seldom essential or vital”.
Now Sturgeon has insisted his remarks were "wrong".
She said: “I disagree with John Mason on the issue of abortion.
“I am a very passionate believer in a woman’s right to choose and I think attempts to take that right away, whether it’s in the United States or any attempts to undermine that right here, are wrong and I disagree with that.
“I also believe women exercising the right to abortion should be able to do so free of intimidation.”
The First Minister was asked about his comments on Monday, as she spoke to journalists while visiting a new NHS 24 building in Glasgow.
Those who wish to protest abortion should do so outside Parliament rather than hospitals, she said.
She went on to say: "I don’t think any woman takes a decision to have an abortion lightly.
“And secondly, medical professionals take their duties very seriously and make sure that they do what is required to bring about a decision that is a fully informed one.”
