Scotcast Abortion buffer zones: is prayer a crime?
Feb 24, 2025
Gillian Mackay, a Scottish Green MSP who championed the Abortion Services Safe Access Zones legislation, defends the law as a safeguard for individual privacy. In contrast, Lois McLatchie Miller from Alliance Defending Freedom International argues against it, emphasizing freedom of speech. They debate whether private prayer can be seen as a criminal act, especially following a recent arrest that sparked outrage. The conversation navigates the tricky balance between protecting access to abortion services and allowing for personal expression in public spaces.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Elderly Protester Arrested Sparks Outrage
- Rose Docherty, 74, was handcuffed and led away after standing quietly with a placard near a Glasgow clinic.
- The image of an elderly woman in cuffs prompted widespread shock and renewed scrutiny of the buffer zone law.
What Scotland's Buffer Zones Cover
- Scotland's Safe Access Zones ban protest within 200 metres of clinics to prevent harassment and protect patient privacy.
- The law criminalises behaviour that influences decisions or causes harassment, alarm or distress within those zones.
US Vice-President Amplifies The Debate
- US Vice-President J.D. Vance claimed the law could make private prayer illegal and encouraged reporting of neighbours.
- That claim gained global attention despite being widely disputed in Scotland.
