Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill (Detailed)

Abortion is healthcare and people in Scotland should be able to access it without intimidation or harassment. The choice to have an abortion is personal and all options are discussed; it isn't a lightly taken decision. One in three women have an abortion during their lifetime, but national statistics show that 70% of these women live in a Scottish health board area that has been targeted by antichoice groups in the past five years. People accessing abortion services may have had a serious or fatal foetal anomaly diagnosis, or be experiencing a miscarriage although they should not have to have such a diagnosis to be safe from such harassment.

Counselling cannot be done by the roadside, and should be done in a professional and regulated manner. No organisation claiming to be providing counselling can legitimately claim that they are doing so by shouting at people going into a hospital or clinic. Safe access zones do not prevent people from exercising their right to protest but simply makes sure they do not so so at the expense of people who may be having the worst day of their lives, or healthcare providers simply doing their jobs.

Work undertaken by BPAS and Back Off Scotland in 2022 showed that 150 metres is not sufficient to prevent patients and staff from harassment at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. Therefore 200 metres must be the standard to make sure all patients and staff across Scotland are protected.

It would undermine the purpose of the Bill to allow the zones to be reduced by ministers. The power does not require the involvement of the provider or consideration of the impact of the decision, therefore I would strongly support amending this to make 200m the minimum required zone by law, and for just consideration to be made as to protection of patients and staff.

Protected premises means a building that is or forms part of a hospital at which abortion services are provided or place approved under the Abortion Act. This seems appropriate, and section 10 of the Bill also provides the power to modify the decision if any changes to places where abortions may be carried out are made.

The offence has the same punishment as legislation across the rest of the UK so seems both appropriate and least likely to cause any issues with legal challenges. The punishment is significantly below other comparable act such as breaching non-harassment orders, so should not be reduced any further.

The UK Supreme Court found a similar law enacted in Northern Ireland was both necessary and proportionate.

The right to express views is not being taken away - just the right to do so by harassing people seeking abortions. Those with anti-abortion views may stand outside Parliament and express those views; this is not the same as doing so outside a hospital and trying to prevent people from accessing care, and criminalising it balances the rights of those accessing healthcare with those of protesters. Reducing the offence to something like a fixed penalty notice would not be sufficient deterrent and would not reflect the levels of harm caused.

Article 8: Currently existing law in Scotland does not adequately cover this kind of harassment or the impact it has on those seeking healthcare. Under Article 8, people should be entitled to access legal, confidential heathcare services, and undergoing harassment of this nature undermines this right.

Articles 9 - 11: The Bill does not limit the views of any anti-abortion individuals or groups. The right to protest would remain at a more appropriate location, such as outside of Parliament, and not at a healthcare facility at the expense of those accessing healthcare. Under articles 9-11, the rights may be limited to protect the rights of others, therefore it is reasonable to balance the right of people to access healthcare confidentially and free from harassment with the right to express anti-abortion views and protest. In 2022, the UK Supreme Court agreed with this stance, finding that “the [Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Northern Ireland) Bill] only prevents anti-abortion protestors from exercising their rights under articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Convention within the designated safe zones” but that “they are free to protest anywhere else they please”.

Anti-abortion harassment outside abortion facilities has been recorded in Scotland since the 1990s and is getting worse. No existing laws have yet been able to stop this activity to protect people. The most relevant alternative would be the use of local council byelaws to create local safe access zones but would not provide protection to all locations but only those where a local authority has acted, and puts the onus of defending from legal challenge on that authority. Similar measures are possible in England but out of the 42 clinics affected only 5 have an order in place. The fear of legal challenge meant that in one area alone more than 500 women reported harassment, alarm and distress to their council but no action was taken for more than four years.

I live in the Grampian area and I have written to my councillors in support of such a local byelaw that was proposed by one councillor, however this has not yet moved forward despite broad support, and people accessing my local hospital are still at risk of harassment. I was shocked and horrified to find that women in my community were being subjected to this kind of harassment, and even more so to find the Chief Executive has claimed there is no impact on patients here.

New legislation is therefore needed to ensure a consistent approach across Scotland and to move these groups away from clinic and hospital gates to protect the rights of all to access legal, essential healthcare.