Abortions in Scotland: Campaigners fear 'lack of transparency' over buffer zones emergency summit following rise in protests

A month on since the First Minister committed to an ‘emergency summit’, a campaign group has expressed ‘serious concerns’ over the ‘lack of transparency’ from the Scottish Government on abortion buffer zones.

In May, Nicola Sturgeon agreed to chair an emergency summit on anti-abortion protest buffer zones outside clinics which will take place later in June.

At First Minister’s Questions last week, she said the summit will bring together “a range of interests”, involving local authorities and Police Scotland, as she supported implementing national legislation.

However, there are now concerns around the lack of details on the summit which was originally called on following a rise in anti-abortion protests across Scotland this year.

Anti-abortion protesters outside the Sandyford Clinic on Wednesday (Photo: Provided by Back Off Scotland).

Recent protests outside the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow include signs such as “Abortion is Murder” with protesters wearing filming devices.

Lucy Grieve, co-founder of Back Off Scotland, seeking to implement 150-metre buffer zones, said: “We have not heard a peep about when and where this will take place.

"The lack of transparency regarding this summit is seriously concerning. Since the commitment was made, we have seen a surge in anti-abortion activity, as well as reports of women being forced to travel to England to seek abortion care due to a lack of provision in Scotland.

"We need urgent action to address the issues plaguing abortion policy in Scotland. It is simply not good enough that women accessing healthcare are faced with such barriers.”

The emergency summit was initially called on by Monica Lennon to allow MSPs, abortion rights groups, healthcare staff and women directly affected by protests to get “around the table”.

However, every day that passes without news of the summit details induces further anxiety for many women, according to the Labour MSP.

Ms Lennon said: “It’s important the people attending the emergency summit on buffer zones and abortion healthcare get sufficient notice. It’s testament to the strength of the campaign that Nicola Sturgeon has agreed to personally chair the event. With each passing day, women are getting more and more anxious, and the harassment continues to escalate.

"The Scottish Government must give the summit the resources and priority it deserves.”

The FM said she is committed to “finding solutions” to what is happening outside abortion services, highlighting recent protests outside the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow as “completely unacceptable”.