Forced adoption is the historic injustice. Scotland’s failure to apologise is today’s

As MSPS gathered in Holyrood last week to shine a light on Scotland’s forced adoption scandal, 60,000 mothers and their children were beside us in the chamber.

These women and the babies they were forced to give up for no other reason than they were unmarried mothers, have suffered in silence and darkness for decades, enduring a terrible but completely unnecessary burden of guilt and grief.

But for the bravery of Marion Mcmillan, who had her baby son taken from her as she begged to keep him, this dreadful injustice of the past may well have stayed hidden.

Throughout history, women have suffered injustices and abuse, but there can be none as devastating as that suffered by the victims of forced adoption.

Marion did not see her baby son again for 40 years, and she has spent her adult life dedicated to supporting mums like her and the children taken from them, reuniting as many of them as possible despite the many barriers and obstacles put in their way.

Today, at 72, Marion is dying of cancer, but she refuses to be silenced. With her last bit of strength, she is determined to set the record straight on this human rights scandal which left thousands of mothers grieving for their lost babies, threatened with jail for daring to try to find them, and shunned simply because they broke the social morality of the time.

Many of the children who were adopted spent their lives searching for who they really were, to find their mothers and fathers. Tragically, too many never did.

Scotland needs to do the right thing today and say sorry for yesterday, to right the wrongs of the past, and set in motion the changes needed to open up the system which has prevented so many being reunited or accessing vital information that could affect their future health.

Historic forced adoption was most common in the 1950s to the 1970s, but the victims’ pain continues to this day.

What happened was beyond cruel and can never be justified.

The practice of separating unmarried mothers from their babies and removing them for adoption was, of course, not unique to Scotland but, in other countries, notably Australia, Canada and Ireland, governments have already apologised on behalf of the state.

For Scotland’s victims, there has been no inquiry, no apology. Many have died, somehow blaming themselves, believing they were bad mothers. I cannot think of one single good reason to delay or deny them a formal apology.

The act of forced adoption is the historic injustice, the lack of an apology is today’s injustice.