Latest news with #AbortionServices(SafeAccessZones
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
OAP arrested at anti-abortion protest in Glasgow has case dropped by prosecutors
A pensioner who was arrested at an anti-abortion protest has had the case against her dropped by prosecutors. Rose Docherty, 75, was arrested as she stood near the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. She was holding a sign which read: "Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want". The grandmother became the first person to be arrested and charged under a new law which created buffer zones outside Scottish abortion clinics in February. She was accused of 'influencing the decision of another person to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at the protected premises'. But it has now emerged prosecutors have decided no further action should be taken against her at this time. The Crown Office said they 'reserve the right' to take proceedings in the future. Speaking about the decision, Ms Docherty told LBC: "This is a victory not just for me, but for everyone in Scotland who believes we should be free to hold a peaceful conversation. I stood with love and compassion, ready to listen to anyone who wanted to talk. "Criminalising kindness has no place in a free society." She has also been told her sign will be returned to her. Ms Docherty was supported by the group ADF International. Lorcan Price, Irish barrister and legal counsel for ADF said: "No one should fear arrest for offering a consensual conversation. Rose's case is a stark example of how 'buffer zone' laws can be weaponised to silence peaceful expression. We are relieved that common sense has prevailed, but the fact that Rose was arrested and threatened with prosecution shows the urgent need to protect fundamental freedoms in Scotland." The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act came into effect in September last year, a month before the introduction of similar legislation in England and Wales. Under the law, protestors who come within 200m of clinics face fines of up to £10,000. In a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, US Vice President JD Vance claimed that the Scottish Government had sent letters warning people against praying inside their own homes if they were within buffer zone areas. Ministers responded denying that claim and stating that the new legislation had been 'carefully drafted to capture only intentional or reckless behaviour close to a small number of premises providing abortion services'. A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: "The procurator fiscal received a report relating to a 75-year-old female and an incident said to have occurred on February 19, 2025. "Professional prosecutors from COPFS considered the report. All Scotland's prosecutors operate independently of political influence. "After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, it was decided that there should be no further action taken at this time. "The Crown reserves the right to take proceedings in relation to this incident in the future."
The Guardian
19-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Woman, 74, arrested for alleged breach of exclusion zone around Glasgow abortion clinic
Police in Scotland have made the first arrest of a protester who allegedly breached an exclusion zone around an abortion clinic, days after the US vice-president, JD Vance, spread inaccurate claims about Scotland's rules. The arrest of the 74-year-old woman took place as anti-abortion campaigners funded by the Texas-based group 40 Days for Life announced a fresh wave of protests outside the clinic in Glasgow next month, in defiance of the ban. Scottish politicians said the protesters had been 'emboldened' by Vance's factually inaccurate claim last week that people who lived within an exclusion zone were banned from praying at home. Gillian Mackay, a Scottish Green party MSP who championed the legislation, said: 'It's no coincidence that this has happened so soon after JD Vance and his supporters have spread toxic misinformation about Scotland. It is vital that we stand up for reproductive rights and against those who are working to undermine them.' The act, Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) 2024, passed by the Scottish parliament in June last year, prohibits protests against abortion within a 200-metre area around a hospital or clinic which provides abortion services. In an attack on these policies at the Munich security conference, Vance said the Scottish and UK governments had 'placed the basic liberties of religious Britons [in] the crosshairs'. He alleged: '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.' John Swinney, Scotland's first minister who also regularly attends church, said earlier on Wednesday that Vance's claims were inaccurate. 'JD Vance is just wrong and that issue was extensively discussed during the passage of the bill,' he said. 'On the letter issued to households, his claims were wrong about that letter as well, and no such point was put to residents whatsoever on private prayer.' In a statement, Police Scotland said: 'We were made aware of a group of protesters having gathered in the Hardgate Road area of Glasgow around 2.05pm on Wednesday, 19 February 2025. 'Officers attended and a 74-year-old woman was arrested and charged in connection with breach of the exclusion zone.' The force added that she would be reported to prosecutors. The Record newspaper reported that 40 Days for Life activists plan to hold daily demonstrations between 5 March and 13 April outside the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow on Hardgate Road, where there is an abortion clinic. Swinney said abortion care was a central part of existing health and social care provision in Scotland. 'I have no plans to change that,' he added. 'It's part and parcel of the offering we make. The buffer zone legislation was designed to essentially recognise that women accessing those services should be able to do so without any additional sense of pressure.' Mackay said: 'We know the awful impact that these protests have had. Some of the testimonies from women who have had to endure them have been heartbreaking. 'I urge 40 Days For Life and anyone else who is planning to protest in a safe access zone to think again, as they will be stopped and there will be consequences.'
