The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has denounced a call by the Scottish Greens to totally decriminalise abortion.
The Greens have called upon the SNP government to move forward with the recommendations of the Scottish Abortion Law Reform Expert Group. The group recommends measures that critics say would effectively legalise abortion up to the point of birth.
The so-called expert group has also been criticised for excluding pro-life voices and for adopting a principle of “non-regression” from the outset – in short meaning that recommendations would only go in one direction.
Scottish Green health spokesperson Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill said, “The Scottish Government should get on with bringing forward this consultation on modernising abortion law.
"We need to make sure that abortion is decriminalised as soon as possible, access to abortion is a fundamental right and it should be treated like any other healthcare procedure.”
While in England the Greens are a fringe party, in Scotland, due to the proportional representation system, what the party says may actually matter. Between 2021 and 2024 the Greens entered a power-sharing and cooperation agreement with the SNP, which had failed to win an outright majority.
Two Green MSPs were appointed as government ministers, however eventually the agreement broke down due to disagreements over policy.
SPUC, which has previously described the expert group’s recommendations as “disastrous and destructive”, said such plans should be rejected.
Peter Kearney, Communications Manager at SPUC, said, “The Scottish Greens know what they are doing, but are dancing around the truth with words like ‘decriminalise’ and ‘healthcare.’
"They should speak in terms every Scottish person can understand: they want abortion up-to-birth for any reason without consequence.”
Referring to the decision to light up public buildings in green for “International Safe Abortion Day”, Kearney added, “While the Edinburgh International Conference Centre was lit up in a vain display about ‘liberation,’ those applauding on the pavement outside were cheering for the destruction of nine-month-old babies in Scotland.
"The Scottish Government must reject their desires. SPUC’s Five Asks offer a far better story for Scotland.”
