Buffer Zone law comes into force in Scotland

A new law which makes it illegal to pray in parts of Scotland is now in force, writes the Catholic Parliamentary Office.

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 establishes zones around hospitals and other facilities where abortions are carried out, currently there are 30.

The zones are comprised of the hospital or clinic, the public area of any grounds of the hospital or clinic, and any public areas within 200m of the boundary of the ground.

The law

The law prohibits conduct which seeks to influence the decision of a person regarding accessing, providing, or facilitating abortion services, or which prevents or impedes a person from accessing, providing or facilitating abortion services.

This will mean that women experiencing a crisis pregnancy may be denied the opportunity to freely speak to people and organisations who may be able to help them.

The new law also criminalises causing harassment, alarm or distress to a person accessing abortion services.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has repeatedly condemned all harassment and intimidation of people, including those attending hospitals and other medical facilities.

The Conference has also pointed out that laws are already in place to protect people from such unacceptable behaviour, and it is significant that, in written evidence to the Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Police Scotland stated that “existing powers and offences are sufficient to address any unlawful behaviour in the vicinity of health care premises.”

Disproportionate

The disproportionate law will have a devastating impact on human rights, including the right to free expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Most alarmingly, official documentation accompanying the legislation admits that the proposed new law anticipates criminalising ‘praying audibly’ and ‘silent vigils’.

It is deeply troubling that so many MSPs are so supportive of a law which will make it illegal to pray in certain parts of the country, in an unprecedented example of state overreach.

Only one MSP, John Mason, the member for Glasgow Shettleston, voted against the proposals.

The law will also prohibit certain conduct within private homes, churches and schools situated within the designated zone.

For example, placing a pro-life poster in the window of a private home which happens which is within the zone could be considered criminal behaviour.

When asked about the possibility of having to police people’s thoughts, including whether they were silently praying, Superintendent Gerry Corrigan told the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee that policing thought is an area “we would stay clear of”, later adding “I do not think we could go down the road of asking people what they are thinking or what their thoughts are. That feels really uncomfortable.”

People have already been arrested for praying silently in England and, with the new law, this may now happen in Scotland.

Some MSPs did raise concerns about the threat to silent prayer and a few suggested helpful amendments to the Bill, including a reasonableness defence and a specific exemption for chaplains who may be caught by the law and criminalised for having conversations about abortion. However, these were either withdrawn or voted down by the Parliament.

Chilling Day

Bishop John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley and spokesperson for the Bishops’ Conference on life issues said:

“This is a chilling day for fundamental freedoms, including our basic right as citizens in Scotland to manifest our beliefs in public, religious or otherwise.

“None of the arguments made were able to get around the basic premise that Police Scotland had never asked for more powers and even told the Parliament they were “really uncomfortable” with the bewildering suggestion of having to police people’s thoughts under the new law.

“The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland condemns all harassment and intimidation of people but continues to note the poor case made that this sort of behaviour was in any way the ethos of Scottish vigils, and endorses the view of Police Scotland, that there are already ample laws in place to deal with such behaviour.

"This law is certainly unnecessary in terms of public order and will disproportionately affect citizens of faith.”

Bishop Keenan added: “While we commend the one MSP who was prepared to recognise and call out the injustice of this draconian law which now criminalises citizen’s thoughts and makes it illegal to pray in certain parts of the country, it is concerning that there was only one.”

Police Scotland will be responsible for enforcing the new law. If an individual or individuals are deemed to be in breach of the law, they could be fined up to £10,000 under summary procedure or to an unlimited amount under solemn procedure.

Buffer Zone Bill will take ‘sledgehammer to civil liberties’

Earlier this week the Daily Record covered the debate set to take place among MSPs on whether to have 'Buffer Zones' around abortion clinics, writes Peter Kearney, of the Scottish Catholic Media Office.

A Bill proposed by Green MSP Gillian MacKay would criminalise any action aimed at persuading someone not to access abortion or to consider an alternative, within 200 metres of premises carrying out abortions.

It would become illegal, to:

The Bill takes a sledgehammer to free speech and demolishes many other civil liberties, including freedom of expression, assembly, thought, conscience and religion.

It could create for the first time in Scottish legal history, a thought crime. You would just need to think negatively about the actions of others to fall foul of the law.

With so much at stake, it’s probably worth asking: what exactly is the problem this terrible Bill is trying to solve?

Well, you might be surprised to learn that no one has ever been arrested outside an abortion facility in Scotland, for breach of the peace, harassment or intimidation.

Police Scotland have stated explicitly that “existing powers and offences are sufficient to address any unlawful behaviour which may arise in the vicinity of a health care premises as a result of such protest.”

They add: “Our engagement with participants...has not resulted in any criminality being identified.”

As the Record’s powerful pictures showed this week, a group of pensioners saying prayers on the pavement isn’t exactly threatening.

Sledgehammer

Since the cops are clear; no crimes are being committed and no new laws are needed, the Bill looks a lot like a sledgehammer being wielded against an invisible nut.

Peaceful protest used to be a cornerstone of our democracy.

Silent vigils have always been seen as harmless and unthreatening.

If we crush that concept now, where will it end?

Silent Peace vigils outside the Trident nuclear base at Faslane have been a fixture for decades, they explicitly attempt to influence those who witness them, but no Scots politician has ever said we should ban them.

That’s because for generations we’ve respected freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of thought conscience and religion as the hard-won human rights they are and wouldn’t dream of erasing them.

Threat to freedoms

The proposed “Buffer Zone” law would at a stroke undo almost a century of settled international human rights law, leaving our courts to determine whether an individual’s thoughts were permissible or not.

Such a threat to universal and fundamental rights is genuinely frightening.

A growing number of people in Scotland are waking up to this real threat to our freedoms and are calling on the Scottish Government to disassociate itself from this damaging and unnecessary proposal.

Our MSPs should steer well clear of unravelling our Human Rights by allowing the Police to protect the peace, the prayerful to pray and the concept of freedom of expression to survive.

Peter Kearney is Director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office. The Daily Record, having commissioned the above article, refused to publish it.