A Scottish Parliament consultation on MSP Gillian McKay’s buffer zone Bill has shown that 77 per cent of respondents oppose introducing so-called abortion buffer zones to Scotland.
<a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/20YZgEHbS7sfIDpTa-nvnNRShzZAm56HySNPLynLDlzvZHcQFjwFnrNuU3CW0TvyLueNordCPIiWJv5QFoNOZZbZxLTuUOF-uEm94tNbzNlXVpC02IDjKYMyIB1sryLfOV0FdAnMTTq4yxSiwlvEwOn6sJzozQ0u1VgxSHZbWtb0YS21-xKkDRqlwi_Q04Jrl_4_FU-3YCkryLvhllbRo6AiNCFfYeFhtqJtvxDlDeQmEeDYc2T0dmnvm_lo4ynOwT_KMlQpQsBM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Polling from Savanta ComRes shows</mark></a> that less than a third of the population in Scotland support the introduction of nationwide buffer zones around abortion clinics. The consultation was undertaken by the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee in relation to McKay's <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2TOuD2LSHIruR67Q2OFwm3oQytrUhZLKFbo1e-jZMU8fUHcQFjwH0E3-RaOT4oqVtfwG31D_lkcC6AaWJBpy3lzWulaHK9qfBZ7EJzTWThmy7A6TWTaT6MufvmxpUnTHqMfrnfen0z7lNQqLcI3_8rzZbLX1CwStPwrTJiU-j--NviW6TR4NGX1VmuJ74-QbfkwPmwH6CyDxPQzN12dB11qn6nrEs0N7fyM_DnvCFCm4AbzSiB6pYbnhD6csxU-bUM--r4u_873hUzVfAf-yMYT-jhnwthE0cO1_HRPoFYFvm49woNoZ-8rOl58hy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill</mark></a>.
Given that the poll assessed support for buffer zones of 150 metres, as will be introduced in England and Wales, it is "likely that support would be even lower" for the Mackay buffer zone law given the proposed law in Scotland would introduce a more extreme 200m buffer zone, notes Right To Life UK<strong>.</strong>
“This Committee has totally ignored the overwhelming opposition to this Bill and instead is supporting the introduction of the world’s most extreme buffer zone law in Scotland”, says Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson<strong>. </strong>“This is a truly draconian piece of legislation that reaches into the homes of ordinary people. It creates an offence for being publicly pro-life."<br><br>She called the legislation a form of "direct viewpoint discrimination", adding:
"No one else is penalised for hanging the flag of their favourite football team from their window, or having a ‘Vote Labour’ sign, but if an individual or a church wants to display a sign, from within their own property, which says ‘Pregnant? We can help’, they may be guilty of violating this buffer zone legislation."
If the Bill becomes law, it will introduce to Scotland what Right to Life UK and <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/scottish-catholic-group-lambasts-worlds-most-extreme-abortion-buffer-zone-legislation/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">other opponents argue would be the world’s most extreme buffer zone law</mark></a>.
The Bill proposes a law change in Scotland that would create a minimum of 200m “safe access” – or typically referred to as "buffer" – zones around any facility that performs abortions, whereby offering support to women would be criminalised.
The 200m is a minimum, as abortion providers can apply for the zone to be extended, with the Bill giving the Scottish Government the power to extend any buffer zone beyond the 200m if they judge that the existing zone “does not adequately protect” women seeking an abortion, notes Right to Life UK. There is no limit on the size of the buffer zone that can be created under this power.
The minimum size of the buffer zones introduced by this law extends further than the minimum size of any other buffer zones in the world, Right to Life UK highlights. For example, the <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/29AXg28bMePJqGKSO1HSVlsZZwFaB-xdeyQxfzWjTnnDgHcQFjwG265OPKM1ywVbhdmpE9U2gxn4S-tFi-JQCmT45uK1oTDhR5kRV-qfiFsXlqIb9BOzQkMIIQHT7IxBk5UeTcrSraU8rM6R6Nmmj8QX4vumLSgL2pzCTxTpdy9Rcy3KxnKFYXMIa7z9okFveTOuyOsQPr6OQpRkFgGDlRveCDXxMP6eCmBdow_2TCUZbqH6aiLPKNuJ0Lf9vbhYAO4foZxqQtrVUizHxAJdgtL_7_ZH0B7EnyI1vM7pv41A_RL70zz5wH7CXC5pmbMAv" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Public Order Act 2023</mark></a> in England and Wales sets the limits of the buffer zones at 150m and the legislation does not give the Government the power to extend buffer zones beyond 150m. Most buffer zones in Northern Ireland are <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2b1YfEGYiIcY3LMLZ4hUn-viJuU84eVF7KqloHeim7fbkHcQFjwEPycughGHRNRPVWTIm7PxLMzW8lUWVcxlsQ-MH8mivdxiDh1POCPbSPOdtT0AttSozs-jZJJVYk_BBeQY0FSARc_MZvq2SwGxOn7zHgwi843ipcCD_9ttygvN2cLP9zM61yYw9IbiopK5jeGae5z4AeDTpWqdM-zpxWAPzh6TpNX05eDpIQjWgA3ztcwT6gzFNlHMIo_g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">100m</mark></a>, half the size of what is being proposed in Scotland.
Within these zones, it will be illegal to influence a person in regard to their decision “to access…the provision of abortion” in an abortion clinic or a hospital. This would thereby make it illegal to offer help to a woman seeking an abortion if done within a buffer zone, and could criminalise silent prayer.
Anyone who commits an offence can be fined up to £10,000 on a <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2XO7wWW7zPLKH9H5lWBClsMqDLVxBUNf1KrOZiQh18QbnHcQFjwGixi4FcDASSJFelATRuPiBO_W8T0C2sH4D0xpTmd8a81sQfkRxQ-r2H_um-UMKrc7qWVuD-rD92LZOy8swFa15npr1Q5r83-yXMqgVJiZWl28_1kYEK9N-8XINu5gHjqraGYp2PJ2VcBsdM832cHdk7NL5fm0rn_oAhQqFDZiURMNQq9x7LXKmbTKqtBC6v-cQCwMiwxcq1xLfwge3bWXHC1rIDBVjrQWDcSn4aBgWz9mzGt75AS3v0FZJfOcxvKkhKmi4-Gd_Pz0WxjfZOHw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">summary conviction</mark></a>, or an unlimited fine on indictment.
The <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2fFkNx0pAcYGAPCt0pCerT0MPX7gWUjwp-uwypIOktPXqHcQFjwF9kn_azZ3WCdbiWLQVs3x9QmLhxSHvr6YOYyNFIHnR59R-b_fR9nDFxThukN13r2kGF1JKtFlJBzqPS6T470oWywKzpbhLTUIWpqHcsgIRSky1hF7SP4xrK6hsPVA4yaXzPEHrUf4x_tBevvGcM4P35gAC_5QWXtJI26k8B4Lf-8mo8j3T91hUZOL21wJwUeT5Vg6QkyraWZZBxWTAT_ZqKnBlTUno6M3A-dBJiK-yDOL9jYU7AJrSM_oGUvqWM3pLbVoqmEgMF_hfEQxYL4nUgmrYE7tx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">provisions</a> </mark>of the Bill apply to anything that is “visible or audible” within a buffer zone, even if these relate to private buildings. This means it may be illegal for pro-life signs to be displayed from a window within a private home or outside a place of worship if the signs are visible and within the boundaries of a buffer zone. Similarly, conversations in private homes or outside churches may be included if they are audible inside a buffer zone.
Despite the opposition to the Bill from respondents to the consultation, alongside polling that shows that the majority of the population in Scotland appears <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/support-for-assisted-suicide-losing-momentum-in-scotland/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">increasingly uncomfortable with nationwide buffer zones</mark></a>, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2uZdWTRrxNc9HIgwiHvrkIb6rtAaGNLcG6tU70KziIJDcHcQFjwE-Nf9BNO9XFqlQbm0NSQAvcjDG7XVUhafrT52aZMwv7e_QW2EenLEN1W9W_iz5IImUhEe27jX7h_zFmqirQGUPoiBlWJ2iYFtNK44AJEw9J2RQxMNyOiFBUqI4QXRJg66L7zbi6YuT1PRUMCsDk4t_LWaoBz_gZPFp6EloH-kM2BR-fVgIjSdJU_hfcRnjghv1HM6DYWYq9uWrtIWc7jCgTfD_2WfRjlGT8Z-K8HdKttMLQJytGnDSHSo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">agreed</mark></a> to the overall principles of the Bill.
A total of 5,858 submissions were made to the consultation. When asked “Do you agree with the overall purpose of this Bill?”, of the responses to this question a total of 4,517 (77.13 per cent) disagreed; 1,288 (21.9 per cent) agreed; and less than one per cent partially agreed or responded “don’t know”. (Full calculations and sources for these figures are available <a href="https://righttolife-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2AM--H0tFSOcL8HJymaUewpZfor5bUIhi5oLJWbnxwNvMHcQFjwGEbFNpEEib9OGiGGairlU4Y41cOdB_75n4dozYbfF0hSSNMSXJ73qG2OtUWP4SKMIsxXsYU3cKcMtjnXwOSSDm0M3IQLsM2J56EIAGVgAM3dHRLon1y0XdECOd4nRlQOhSFQMEZiK5Haz9ePB6czNbYWAbgLQf59ecNndPbQQo0nuct8a9IgibTvc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">here</mark></a>).
Right to Life UK highlights that many women have been helped outside abortion clinics by pro-life volunteers who have provided them with practical support, and which made it clear to the women that they had another option other than going through with the abortion.
“The proposed law change would mean that the vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics will be removed for women and many more lives would likely be lost to abortion,” Robinson says.
“This legislation is not only a direct attack on free expression and public association based on viewpoint, it is entirely unnecessary insofar as harassment and intimidation are already illegal. Wherever they occur, existing legislation can and should be used to put a stop to them.” <br><em><br>Photo: Cover image for a previous Catholic Herald magazine depicting pro-life volunteers; picture by Christian Adams.</em>
