An anti-abortion protest outside a Glasgow maternity ward has sparked fury among pro-choice campaigners.
Droves of protestors from anti-abotion group 40 Days For Life were spotted lining up along Hardgate Road on Sunday evening.
The road faces the entrance to the Maternity Unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Holding placards, many of the protesters wore hi-vis gear to alert oncoming motors in and around the junction leading to the unit.
Pro-choice campaign group Back Off Scotland shared a snap of the group that same evening.
A fuming representative took to Twitter demanding Maree Todd, Minister for Public Health, Women's Health and Sport, 'needs to resign'.
Just before 8pm on Sunday they wrote: "Currently over 100 anti-abortion protestors outside the maternity ward QEUH in Glasgow.
"The Women's Health Minister Maree Todd needs to resign.
"This is happening unchallenged on her watch."
Lucy Grieve, co-founder of the campaign group, has slammed anti-choice activists' "intimidating" tactics upsetting patients and staff,
"People's Article Eight rights to medical privacy are being blown out the water by letting them stand outside," she said.
"The presence of these people to literally protest the choice a woman has made, just to shame her into feeling guilty, is unacceptable."
Lucy said the group wanted to see rapid action from the government to send protesters packing.
She added: "We don't understand why something hasn't been done. It's frustrating as this has been a problem for decades.
"We're just a group of students who have had to share stories of our own abortions to try to make a change.
"This shouldn't have to be our job. It's shocking.
"This issue affects women's health on a daily basis and should be at the forefront of the minister for women's health's mind. I do believe it's a resigning issue."
Regional MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, who has called for buffer zones in Holyrood, said it was "completely unacceptable" that protests continue on hospital doorsteps.
"The buck stops with Maree Todd and the Scottish Government," she said.
"It's not on that women are treated like this as they go through what could be one of the hardest points of their lives and make a decision that no doubt will have been difficult.
"The Scottish Government needs to step up, stop looking away and putting their fingers in their ears, and do something about it."
On March 17 we told how 40 days of 'prayer vigils', are being held outside the maternity unit at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
The protest began on March 2 and ended on April 10.
The Scottish Government has resisted calls to legislate on "buffer zones" that would restrict anti-abortion protests within the vicinity of medical institutions.
Last year, the SNP's Programme for Government voiced support for councils enacting byelaws to keep those opposed to the practice off the doorsteps of clinics and hospitals. But council umbrella body Cosla says this would be unlawful without national legislation.
MSP Gillian MacKay has introduced a member's bill to bring in national buffer zone laws, which is expected to move to the public consultation stage next month.
She told the Record today: "For too long these protests have been going on across the country and this targeted harassment of people shouldn't be acceptable in 2022.
"I'm looking forward to working with the government on this and hope there will be some coming-together in the short term before, and if, my bill passes to ensure this doesn't happen every year.
"These protests have brought into focus how big a problem this is and we should be making sure that some interim measures, whatever those might be, can be put in place in the short-term.
"This is about protecting access to healthcare, rather than restricting protest."
Women's campaigner and Central Scotland MSP Monica Lennon said the government's inaction was "emboldening" anti-abortion protesters who were gathering outside maternity units with no repercussions.
"While this particular campaign has a shelf life it's certainly not the last we'll see of protests like this," she said.
"They're having a detrimental impact on people who are accessing the QEUH, on people who are working there, even people who can see them from their windows in hospital.
"This is an issue of political will and I hope Gillian MacKay's bill can be fast-tracked."
Anti-abortion protest organiser, Rose Docherty, from Bishopbriggs, has previously revealed how she was recruited by an American-based religious group.
Rose was tracked down by group 40 Days For Life after organisers found her 'through the pro-life grapevine' as they looked for people to organise protests in Scotland.
She previously told the Record: "They found out about me through the pro-life grapevine.
"They just wanted to know if there was anyone in Scotland and I said I'd be willing to do that and I'd be willing to come out."
It comes as 40 Days For Life confirmed they now have a network of 'several hundred' volunteers in Scotland.
The group was set up in 2004 by people protesting at an abortion facility in Texas and expanded their network through the southern states of America before infiltrating new countries to become a world-wide group.
The anti-choice group have sparked outrage from campaigners and politicians across Scotland, with many calling for buffer zones to be put in place around clinics to protect women from harassment and intimidation as they enter facilities.
Rose claims the group, which is affiliated with Cardinal Winnings Pro Life Initiative, stand across from facilities offering to 'help' women who she believes may be 'coerced' into abortion.
She said: "We are offering pro-life pregnancy crisis support and we're offering help to women experiencing post abortion syndrome as well."
Pro-choice campaigners say the 'vigils' are targeted intimidation and have hit out at the presence around clinics saying they should take place at "an appropriate location", such as the Scottish Parliament.
Rose added: "If they are going in somewhere for an abortion, we need to be where the help is needed."
Responding to Back Off Scotland's comments, Maree Todd said: “The Scottish Government believes all women in Scotland should be able to access timely abortion care without judgment, within the limits of the law, should they require it.
"I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any attempts to intimidate women as they choose to access abortion services.
“I have convened a working group with partners such as COSLA, Police Scotland and affected Councils and Health Boards to seek to find an appropriate way forward as soon as possible in relation to protests or vigils outside abortion clinics.
“The working group is continuing to explore ways to ensure that women can access abortion services without feeling harassed or intimidated.
“We are looking forward to Gillian Mackay MSP bringing forward her member’s bill on buffer zones and I have publicly committed to work constructively with her in this regard.”
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