Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall

Scottish abortion clinics have waited 'too long' for buffer zones to distance protesters

Abortion clinics in Scotland have waited "too long" for the introduction of buffer zones to push back protesters and offer greater protection to patients.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said women entering clinics should be protected from "harassment" by anti-abortion campaigners.

Buffer zones would ban certain activities that are designed to deter or prevent women from accessing abortion care within 150 metres of the entrance to a clinic or hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon has previously said that anti-abortion campaigners should protest outside of the Scottish Parliament and not in front of clinics.

A working group on the subject has met to discuss ways to protect patients but no recommendations have yet been published.

It comes as politicians from all parties at Holyrood condemned reports the US Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning the landmark Roe vs Wade law - which could ultimately ban abortion access in around half of American states.

Cole-Hamilton said: “We must make sure that we protect the rights of women to access safe and legal abortion in the UK without harassment.

"For years, campaigners, including myself, have been calling for buffer zones around abortion clinics to ensure that people in a time of need are not faced with intimidation and shame at a time when they deserve support and empathy.

"No one thinks that Nicola Sturgeon and Maree Todd have anything in common with the US Republican party and its legal assault on personal freedoms, but the fact is that they have stalled and dissembled over these buffer zones for far too long."

Responding to reports from the US, Nicola Sturgeon, said the "right of women to decide what happens to our own bodies is a human right".

The First Minister added: "Experience tells us that removing the legal right to abortion doesn’t stop abortions happening – it just makes them unsafe and puts the lives of women at much greater risk."

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said reports on the US Supreme Court stance represented a "massive, massive step backwards" for the rights of women.

He added he was "not for a second suggesting that the Scottish Government would associate themselves in any way" with the events in the US, but said “"dither and delay" on the introduction of buffer zones “is not acceptable”.

He continued: "I think there is a clear majority in the population that is supportive of creating these buffer zones, and we should have no delay. We should just get on with it."

When asked about the issue of buffer zones at FMQs last month, Sturgeon said: "“First, can I say, on behalf of the Scottish Government but also as First Minister personally, that we are committed to ensuring that all women are able to access timely abortions without judgment.

“I condemn, and I will do so in the strongest possible terms, any attempts to intimidate women as they choose to access abortion services.

“People, of course, have a right to protest against abortion, but they should do that outside Parliament, where the laws are made. They should not do that outside a hospital, where women are undergoing abortions, and of course, experiencing often, as they do so, extreme distress.

“The buffer zones working group has been meeting and is looking at ways to prevent any patients feeling harassed or intimidated when accessing healthcare.”

To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.