The Catholic Church in Scotland has welcomed the dismissal of all charges against a 75-year-old grandmother accused of breaching an abortion clinic “buffer zone”.
Rose Docherty was arrested in September for standing silently in a zone with a sign that read "Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want".
Under Scotland's controversial buffer zone law, it is illegal to “influence” a person seeking to make use of abortion facilities within 200 metres of the site. The MSP who proposed the law confirmed in a radio interview that even silent prayer by the window inside a private home could be a breach of the law depending on who is walking past the window at the time.
Docherty was the first person to be criminally charged under the buffer zone law. The dismissal of all charges has been welcomed by many.
Bishop John Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said, “The ruling is an important reminder that peaceful, consensual conversation in a public place is protected, and that criminal offences must be clearly and properly made out on the evidence.
"This case should prompt a careful and thorough review of how ‘safe access zone’ powers are applied so that they do not infringe fundamental rights.”
Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, which supported Docherty in her case, said the ruling was a “significant victory for freedom of expression in the United Kingdom” and called for the repeal of all buffer zone laws.
There have been a number of other high profile cases against people accused of breaching the 'safe access zones'.
Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was convicted in October 2024 for silently praying within an abortion zone, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the Director of March For Life UK, has been arrested and acquitted multiple times, although she again faces a trial in October for another alleged breach.
In Northern Ireland, Pastor Clive Johnston recently stood trial for holding an open air service within the zone, which made no mention of abortion at all. He is awaiting judgment.
Although theoretically the law is meant to stop any kind of influence at all on a woman considering an abortion, it has only ever been used against those perceived to be discouraging abortion. Pro-life campaigners have discovered evidence of abortion providers using high pressure sales tactics, even on women who have decided not to have an abortion. No arrests have been made for influencing a woman to have an abortion within the zones.
