Rose Docherty has had her plea hearing postponed to 3 February following the failure of the Scottish prosecutor to provide disclosure in a timely manner.
Docherty, a Scottish grandmother, has been charged with breaching an abortion clinic “buffer zone”. She is the first person to be charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024.
The law creates a 200-meter zone around abortion facilities in which it is forbidden to harass, intimidate or "influence" a person seeking an abortion.
Docherty disputes that her behaviour was a breach of the law, noting that she simply stood in the zone with a sign that read “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”.
Her case has drawn the attention of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and even the US State Department, both of which have raised concerns that abortion buffer zones are infringing on civil liberties.
The bishops said the case was “troubling” and that the law could make actions like silent prayer a criminal matter. This latter claim was confirmed by Gillian Mackay, the Scottish Green MSP who introduced the Bill. When asked by BBC Scotland whether a person praying at home within a buffer zone could face criminal sanction, Mackay said it could “depending on who’s passing the window”.
Meanwhile the US State Department said Docherty’s arrest represented “another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe”.
Docherty was due to attend a plea hearing on 13 January, however a statement on X by ADF International, which is providing legal support to Docherty, confirmed that this has now been postponed.
ADF said, “Rose Docherty is scheduled to plead in court for offering conversation in a 'buffer zone' in a hearing on February 3. The plea hearing was originally due to take place today but was postponed, as the Scottish prosecutor failed to provide disclosure in a timely manner.”
