Buffer zones demand for Scots clinics
CALLS are growing for buffer zones to be introduced around Scotland’s abortion clinics after reports the US Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case that legalised abortion nationwide.
The leaked paper has caused outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, with politicians ramping up calls for the Scottish Government to install buffer zones to prevent protesters from being able to pressure people using abortion services.
Buffer zones would ban certain activities that are designed to deter or prevent women from accessing abortion care within 150 metres of the entrance to a clinic or hospital.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said of the reports yesterday: “Experience tells us that removing the legal right to abortion doesn’t stop abortions happening – it just makes them unsafe and puts the lives of women at much greater risk.”
But Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the First Minister and women’s health minister Maree Todd have “stalled and dissembled” over buffer zones “for too long”.
Cole-Hamilton said: “We must make sure that we protect the rights of women to access safe and legal abortion in the UK without harassment.
“For years, campaigners, including myself, have been calling for buffer zones around abortion clinics to ensure people in a time of need are not faced with intimidation and shame at a time when they deserve support and empathy.
“No one thinks Nicola Sturgeon and Maree Todd have anything in common with the US Republican party and its legal assault on personal freedoms, but the fact is they have stalled and dissembled over these buffer zones for far too long.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, said the leaked documents are “horrifying”, adding that overturning the ruling would be a “massive, massive step backwards” for the rights of women. He said: “I think there is a clear majority in the population that is supportive of creating these buffer zones.”