Lawmakers in Scotland passed the first stage of a bill that would establish a buffer zone of a minimum 200 meters around the country’s abortion businesses in a landslide vote of 123 to one.
The proposed buffer zone, which Right to Life UK says is the “world’s most extreme,” gives the Scottish Government the right to extend the area restricted from pro-life activity if it feels that 200 meters is not enough, with no maximum area given. Anyone who violates the order can be fined at least £10,000 (over $12,000 USD).
The bill not only prevents pro-lifers from standing in a certain area, but it also limits pro-life signs and displays – even if those displays are on private property, like in a window of a home. Lawmakers are divided on whether or not the buffer zone should limit silent prayer as well, which will be discussed in the next round of legislation. This sort of stifling of even silent prayer within a buffer zone as a “thoughtcrime” has caused issues in certain areas of the United Kingdom.
Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay, who sponsored the legislation, claimed that the law would protect women from unnecessary stress.
“Attending any unfamiliar medical procedure can be stressful – most of us worry about whether it will hurt, or whether something will go wrong,” she said. “Is there anyone here who doesn’t think that would be more stressful, more frightening even, if you also had to worry that there might be people waiting outside to convince you not to go in? To perhaps call you names? Or to inaccurately suggest there might be consequences of that procedure you haven’t thought of, like cancer or infertility?”
Abortion supporters often inaccurately peg pro-life sidewalk counselors as violent, crude, or frightening, but most often the opposite is true.
Pro-lifers are outside abortion facilities because they want to help women and empower them to choose life. These peaceful, prayerful counselors can connect mothers with pregnancy resource centers, where they will find prenatal support, maternity items, baby food, diapers and wipes, and much more. Giving a mother options so that she doesn’t feel that killing her child is the only choice is the caring, loving thing to do.
Though lawmakers appear to be in full support of the bill, recent polling suggests the public thinks otherwise. An overwhelming 77 percent of respondents to a poll said they were opposed to introducing buffer zones in the country.
“Despite overwhelming opposition to the Bill from respondents to the consultation, and polling that shows that only a small percentage of the population in Scotland support the introduction of nationwide buffer zones, MSPs voted to support the principles of this extreme legislation anyway,” noted Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK.
“This is a truly draconian piece of legislation that reaches into the homes of ordinary people. It creates an offence for being publicly pro-life. It is direct viewpoint discrimination…This legislation is not only a direct attack on free expression and public association based on viewpoint, it is entirely unnecessary insofar as harassment and intimidation are already illegal. Wherever they occur, existing legislation can and should be used to put a stop to them.”
The bill still needs to pass through two more stages before legislators prior to becoming law.
