The Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) behind the country’s controversial abortion “buffer zone” laws has suggested that the legislation does not go far enough and that the size of the zones may need to be increased.
At present the law prohibits harassing, coercing and even influencing a person within 200 metres of Scottish abortion centres.
Gillian Mackay, an MSP for the Green Party, and said even under the current law, she has received complaints from people claiming to feel intimidated by anti-abortion individuals.
The law has been described as an attack on free speech, as it sets the precedent of telling Scottish people which topics they are allowed to discuss and where.
The first woman to be arrested under the new law, Rose Docherty, 74, said that she had made every effort to comply with the law, arguing that her actions did not constitute harassment, coercion or even influence.
Docherty was arrested after standing silently in the zone around Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. She was holding a sign that read “coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”.
Speaking to the BBC, Docherty said, “I gave consideration to what I was doing … I looked at the law and saw what it said I couldn’t do, and thought, ok, well this is what I can do … I can offer to listen, and if anyone wants to come and speak to me, they can do so, only if they want to come and speak with me.”
The police took a different view and arrested her. She was later told that she would not face prosecution on the condition that she accepted a formal warning. However, Docherty refused the warning, claiming she had done nothing wrong.
Docherty could face an unlimited fine under the law and has said she is willing to go to prison over her stand. It is now up to the authorities to decide how hard they wish to pursue this and whether they want to test the issue in court.
Docherty told ADF International, which is supporting her, “I would be willing to go to prison on the issue because I am unshakably convinced that nobody should be criminalised for a peaceful offer to speak on any public land in Britain.
“This is a free and democratic society, and no threat of imprisonment will change my mind that what I did was right, completely harmless and in accordance with the purpose and intention of international human rights laws.”
