THE SNP has disciplined an MSP over controversial comments around the large-scale anti-abortion protests outside hospitals and clinics across Scotland.

John Mason, who represents Glasgow Shettleston, and attends Easterhouse Baptist Church, has defended the Christian groups staging the demonstrations. 

He has also infuriated colleagues over claims women were being "pushed" toward the procedure by medics. 

The 40 Days of Life campaign, which sees churches and other Christian organisations stage protests outside hospitals, is due to start its autumn campaign this month.

Earlier this year, the group gathered more than 100 people outside the entrance of Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

In an email to Back Off Scotland, who campaign for 150m "buffer zones" around clinical settings to take the protests away from the hospital doors,  the MSP said he had attended one of the events to speak to the people there and went on to say he believed abortion was “seldom essential or vital”.

He said the signs used by the groups were “very gentle and offering help” and not “hateful or harassing.”

Mr Mason questioned whether there was always informed consent around abortion, claiming that medical professionals did not always ask women seeking the procedure "how they feel.”

“Some clinics seem to be pushing abortion without laying out the pros and cons,” he said. 

In a later interview, he compared some women undergoing abortions as having “effectively found themselves on a conveyor belt”.

The comments were rejected by Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Gregor Smith and National Clinical Director, Professor Jason Leitch. 

In a letter to Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon, the two medics said: “There is no evidence to suggest that abortion providers are not seeking informed consent from patients.

"All patients have a consultation with either a doctor or a nurse (either via telemedicine or in person) before they proceed to have an abortion.

"During that consultation, the doctor or nurse will discuss the details of the procedure and options available and confirm whether the patient wishes to consent to proceed with a termination.”

A letter from June, leaked to the Daily Record, revealed that party bosses had carpeted the MSP for the comments. 

SNP whips Stuart McMillan and Gordon MacDonald told Mr Mason: “Your lack of sensitivity especially in the current context has been noted.

“Your behaviour and conduct have been extremely disappointing, and we believe that you have brought the Parliamentary group into disrepute.”

They added: “We would like to make it clear that we absolutely respect your right to hold your views on abortion and your right to freedom of speech and expression.

“We do not, however, believe that you have the right to impose these views on others.”

They added: “The verbalisation of your views has caused great distress and trauma to many women and have also been regarded as misinformation by medical professionals.

“As you know, the First Minister has committed to exploring all possible options to ensure safe access zones for women and girls accessing healthcare.”

In his response, Mr Mason accused the party of creating confusion: “You say that I have the ‘right to freedom of speech and expression’ on abortion but later that the ‘verbalisation of your views has caused great distress and trauma’. I am struggling to see how these two fit together.”

He added: “I accept that for many people who have decided on an abortion, they are content with the service provided.

“However, for at least some women who perhaps were being coerced or who had not fully made up their minds, they consider that they have had a bad experience.”

Mr Mason said the SNP had traditionally “allowed freedom of conscience and a free vote on issues like abortion and assisted dying.” 

He pointed that his views had been well known in the eight elections he stood in and won, including the 2008 Glasgow East by-election where the SNP “accepted that my pro-life position was helping our campaign.”

Mr Mason said the party could “lose SNP and independence voters if we are to exclude all pro-life voices in Parliament.”

An SNP spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on internal party matters.”

Back Off Scotland said: “John is obviously entitled to his own views on abortion, but he cannot use his platform as a parliamentarian to spread harmful narratives about abortion access in Scotland.

“Whilst we’re glad the SNP have taken action on this, John has continued to spread misinformation and cause distress since this [discipline] letter was sent in June which is unacceptable.”

Earlier this month, as she set out her programme for government, Nicola Sturgeon re-committed to introducing national legislation on buffer zones. 

The First Minister said she would work with Green MSP Gillian Mackay MSP to introduce national legislation for safe access zones around healthcare settings that provide abortion services.

She told MSPs this would “safeguard the access of women to abortion services without harassment or intimidation.”

Initially, the Scottish Government said local byelaws could be used to introduce buffer zones, but this was rejected by council umbrella body Cosla obtained a legal opinion disputing that.

A key obstacle to any national law is that protesters have a right to freedom of speech.