Scotland's buffer zone law author calls for abortion decriminalization

Gillian Mackay, co-leader of the Scottish Greens and Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Central Scotland, who previously successfully led legislation to establish buffer zones at abortion facilities, now has intentions to decriminalize abortion in Scotland.  

Key Takeaways:

• After successfully pushing for an abortion facility buffer zone law in Scotland, MSP Gillian Mackay is now fighting to decriminalize abortion in the country, taking a cue from the UK's House of Commons.

• Decriminalizing abortion would mean that even if women choose to take abortion pills well after the legal 24-week limit, they would not be investigated or prosecuted, leaving potential infanticide cases to go without investigation.

• Proponents of decriminalization say they want abortion to be treated as routine healthcare; however, they leave out of the conversation the fact that intentionally killing an innocent human being, which is what abortion does, is nothing like legitimate healthcare.

The Details:

In September 2025, Mackay revealed in an interview with The Herald Scotland her plans to push for a widening of Scotland’s abortion laws, a declaration that sparked worries among pro-life advocates and faith leaders across the United Kingdom.

Mackay’s remarks, published in early November 2025 by The Christian Institute, reflect a long-standing attempt by pro-abortion lawmakers to undermine preborn lives in Scotland. 

According to The Christian Institute, Mackay labelled abortion as  “a very normal part of health care,” alleging that present requirements, including the authorization of two doctors, are only an “administrative effort.” 

“Decriminalisation is long overdue. It was raised with me a lot when I was introducing my Safe Access Zones Act to curb anti-choice protest and is one of the reforms I would like to see alongside the two-doctor rule,” Mackay added. 

In a recent post on X in October 2025, Mackay penned: 

“I fully back the Let’s change the Act campaign to decriminalise abortion in Scotland. I'll be exploring avenues to move this forward, including putting pressure on Government to do so. Abortion rights are health care. Nobody should be deterred or risk being criminalised for it.” 

Reality Check:

As per a report from The Herald Scotland, Mackay believes Scotland's current rule that two doctors must sign off on an abortion needs to end, because it is the "only piece of healthcare which is treated in this way." Mackay's Safe Access Zones Act, which went into effect last year, "prevents any protests or vigils taking place within 200 meters (656 feet) of 30 clinics offering abortion services in Scotland."

Scotland’s pro-abortion Public Health Minister Jenni Minto likewise declared, “A review of abortion law in Scotland is already being taken forward to identify potential proposals for reforms to ensure that abortion services are first and foremost a healthcare matter” (emphasis added).

However, what is left out of this discussion is the fact that legitimate "healthcare" does not intentionally and directly kill innocent and defenseless human beings upon someone else's request. Abortion is not like "healthcare" because its goal is not healing — its goal is the death of a human being.

How many types of "healthcare" intentionally poison, lethally inject, or dismember human beings?

Abortion Doctors Share How The Most Common Abortion Procedures Take Place

While abortion is allowed in Scotland for most reasons up to 24 weeks, most Scottish health boards commit the procedure up to 20 weeks’ gestation, The Christian Institute reported. 

After the vote in Westminster, Scottish Labour MPs Lillian Jones and Joani Reid called on the Scottish government to ensure that “no woman is prosecuted for terminating a pregnancy.”

Some pro-abortion advocates have even contended that Scotland should “construct its own rights-based approach,” apart from Westminster’s policy environment.

The Bottom Line:

The UK's push to decriminalize abortion was the impetus for Mackay's current efforts.

In June 2025, the UK's House of Commons voted to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales, regardless of gestational age, through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. This would allow women who take the abortion pill to kill their preborn children after the legal limit of 24 weeks to do so with no penalty, even if that child was old enough to have survived outside the womb.