First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has responded to news of potential restrictions of abortion in the US by saying the ‘right of women to decide what happens to our own bodies is a human right.’
“And experience tells us that removing the legal right to abortion doesn’t stop abortions happening – it just makes them unsafe and puts the lives of women at much greater risk,” she said.
Anthony Horan, Director of the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office, had a critical response.
“The reality of abortion, however, is the killing of another, distinct, human being who is extremely vulnerable and at the mercy of other, more powerful human beings,”he said.
“This truth cannot be ignored. We must respect the right to life of all, including the unborn.”
The news comes as politicians of all parties in Scotland seek to ban ‘pro-life vigils’, where Christians pray outside places where abortions are carried out.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon has called for ‘emergency legislation’ to create 150-metre buffer zones around hospitals, stating that they ‘will protect those accessing legal abortion from unnecessary trauma.’
Lennon said she feared that the pro-life protests are increasing in attendance and frequency.
Pro-life vigils tend to see an increase through Lent, which recently ended.
Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), of pro-life Charity SPUC said there was a consistent effort to ‘mischaracterising pro-life vigils as protests that harass women. In reality, they are acts of love that seek to offer vulnerable mothers a way out of abortion’.
“In recent years, unrelenting propaganda from media sources, politicians and activists has sought to smear pro-lifers as harassers to further a pro-abortion agenda that ultimately leads to more abortion and more heartbroken mothers,” he said.