EGN NEWS DESK
A Bill to ban peaceable pro-life vigils, together with prayer and affords of assist, outdoors abortion clinics was handed overwhelmingly by Scottish parliamentarians on Wednesday night.
Gillian Mackay’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill was handed by 118 votes to 1 at Holyrood.
Once applied, anybody collaborating in a pro-life vigil inside a buffer zone outdoors a Scottish hospital or abortion facility would face fines of as much as £10,000.
The ban would exclude even praying silently inside the designated zones.
“Today’s vote means by no means once more ought to a lady must be stripped of her dignity, privateness or emotion in opting to have an abortion. It enshrines her proper to take action, and to take action with out concern or intimidation,” mentioned Mackay.
“A girl’s proper to determine what occurs to her physique is no-one else’s enterprise however her personal and that’s the message being despatched loud and clear throughout Scotland tonight.”
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) mentioned the ban would infringe on civil liberties and cease weak ladies from with the ability to obtain assist outdoors clinics.
SPUC General Secretary Michael Robinson referred to as the laws “deeply flawed” and mentioned it “seeks to police areas of our non-public lives, which the state has no proper to intrude with, particularly non-public thought and prayer”.
“By voting in favour of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) invoice, MSPs have trampled on at the least 4 European Convention of Human Rights and have launched thoughtcrime into Scottish society,” he mentioned.
“Scotland has taken a colossal step backwards for civil liberties and has established itself as essentially the most intolerant and anti-free speech nation within the Western world.
“This is certainly a darkish day in Scotland’s historical past.”
SPUC mentioned it’s contemplating a judicial overview into the laws. It is urging folks to vote for pro-life candidates within the forthcoming normal election.
“This devasting scenario in Scotland proves simply how very important it’s to worth your vote, and elect pro-life representatives,” mentioned Robinson.
