A 74-year-old woman has been arrested near a Glasgow hospital, marking the first case under Scotland’s new “buffer zone law.” She was subsequently charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act.
Police Scotland said they received a report last week about people gathered close to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where abortions are provided, according to Sky News. Officers found a sign bearing the words “coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want,” which the arrested woman had allegedly been holding.
The police arrested her and removed the sign from the area.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
The buffer zone law, which came into force last September, sets a 200-meter exclusion area around 30 clinics offering abortion services across Scotland. Individuals who engage in conduct that could deter patients or staff from accessing healthcare within these zones risk prosecution.
Authorities can impose fines of up to £10,000 ($12,600) or higher penalties in more severe instances, according to the BBC.
Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the woman “will be reported to the procurator fiscal.”
Politicians who supported the buffer zone legislation have denounced activities that they describe as causing distress to individuals seeking abortions.
“The protests that have taken place outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have been utterly shameful and I am grateful to Police Scotland for acting so quickly,” Gillian Mackay, who introduced the act, was quoted as saying. “This kind of intimidation has no place in a modern or progressive Scotland. Everybody deserves to have access to healthcare without harassment.”
Officials identified the pro-life group 40 Days for Life as having advertised a spring vigil in the same vicinity, prompting calls from Mackay for the organization to reconsider its plans.
“I urge 40 Days For Life and anyone else who is planning to protest in a safe access zone to think again, as they will be stopped and there will be consequences,” Mackay said, according to BBC.
First Minister John Swinney rejected claims by U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance, who alleged a week earlier in a speech in Manchester, Germany, that residents inside buffer zones were warned against praying at home.
In his address at the Munich Security Conference in Munich earlier this month, Vance noted that conservatives have been investigated, arrested, prosecuted or fined for protesting abortion and posting views on social media.
The vice president asserted that Europe faces a crisis “of its own making,” pointing to censorship and disregard for voter sentiment as bigger dangers than external adversaries.
A Scottish government official said in a statement shared with media that Vance’s claim was “incorrect.”
“Private prayer at home is not prohibited within safe access zones and no letter has ever suggested it was,” the spokesperson said.
Residents in Edinburgh received letters warning them about the new law, The Telegraph reported, noting that the legislation establishes 200-meter “safe access zones” around all abortion clinics in the country.
“Activities in a private place (such as a house) within the area between the protected premises and the boundary of a zone could be an offense if they can be seen or heard within the zone and are done intentionally or recklessly,” the letter stated.
Buffer Zone laws went into effect in England and Wales last year, with critics contending the measure criminalizes silent prayer and offering help for women and families in need of pregnancy resources.
