At the start of this month, staff and patients entering Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were faced with a mob of over 100 anti-abortion protesters.
This prompted First Minister Humza Yousaf to promise swift action on so-called “buffer zones”, which would keep protesters 150 metres away from hospitals.
It is, indeed, likely that Scotland will soon follow the rest of the UK and legislate for these safe access zones.
Despite countless testimonies from distressed patients and healthcare workers being shared widely in the media, anti-abortion activists appear determined to continue, keen to push the idea that they are merely concerned citizens who want to “help women”. It seems that, because overt misogyny is no longer socially acceptable, anti-abortion organisations are resorting to gaslighting women and patients.
At the end of March, UK anti-abortion organisation Society for the Protection of Unborn Children stated on its website that Mr Yousaf’s election and buffer zone pledge would “remove a lifeline for many women”. In May 2022, the group used the same phrasing in written evidence submitted to the UK Government, objecting to the proposed introduction of buffer zones and legal punishments for anti-abortion protesters.
This rhetoric is straight out of the playbook of the American religious right, who peddle “abortion industry” conspiracies that medics have a financial incentive to perform as many abortions as possible. Obviously, in Scotland, our NHS staff are salaried and there is no financial incentive whatsoever to persuade people to have abortions.
Midwives are registered, regulated and trained to support patients to make the best decision for themselves, signpost to any support needed, and to check for abuse. Nobody should be taking medical advice from unqualified charlatans and vigilantes out on the pavement.
The mask slips further in YouTube footage of Edinburgh-based protest organiser, Mairi Lucas, giving a talk and showing the audience a placard design she likes, which reads: “Pray to end abortion”. She tells them that the sign “says a lot. It says that there’s something wrong with abortion and it needs to end, and that God’s got something to do with that”.
Lucas goes on to say that this sign is “in your face”, and that it “tends to trigger” people. This is the behaviour of someone who wants to shame, not help women.
🚨100+ PROTESTORS OUTSIDE THE QEUH IN GLASGOW RIGHT NOW 🚨
Progress on buffer zone legislation is going far too slowly.
We must pick up pace as a matter of priority and fast track it through the Scottish Parliament to stop this once and for all.@HumzaYousaf @jenni_minto pic.twitter.com/i9Ga8DVkkB
— Back Off Scotland (@backoffscotland) April 2, 2023
The placard Lucas refers to is a 40 Days For Life sign. This American organisation is based in the very socially conservative state of Texas. Its website says the group’s mission is to “end the injustice of abortion”. Anyone involved claiming that their motivation is to “help women” is blatantly being disingenuous.
Patients are painfully aware that these protesters are not “praying” for them, but preying on them, and that the point is to cause distress.
Unless buffer zone legislation passes over the next few months, healthcare settings in Scotland – including in Aberdeen and Edinburgh – are due to be picketed again during September when this Bible Belt-based group runs its “fall campaign”.
Gemma Clark is a teacher, abortion rights campaigner and local radio presenter
Conversation