Legislation to set up buffer zones outside abortion clinics will be tabled by the end of June, the MSP behind the plans has confirmed.
Greens MSP Gillian Mackay, who is bringing forward the plans in a members' bill, has announced the analysis of the thousands of consultation responses received and the final proposal for her legislation will be published before Holyrood shuts down for summer recess.
The Scottish Parliament will go into summer recess on July 1.
Read more: Scottish buffer zones to be rolled out 'as quickly as possible'
According to Ms Mackay, the Bill will stop anti-choice protesters from targeting medical facilities that provide abortion services.
More than 12,000 people took part in the consultation, with polls showing the proposal is supported by the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland.
Read more: Hefty fines may halt anti-abortion groups from breaching buffer zones
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Mackay asked Humza Yousaf if he would support the Bill being brought forward before the summer.
She said: “Now the work of the short-life working group on buffer zones has concluded, does he agree that all of our collective focus should be on delivering national legislation as the most robust way to put buffer zones in place in Scotland – and that our collective aim should be to bring forward the final proposal for my members' bill before the summer recess.
The FM said that “the focus should absolutely now be on that national approach”.
Read more: Anger as Scottish Government scrap buffer zone working group
He added: “I can give an absolute commitment that we will work closely with her on this members' bill.
“It is of incredible importance, it is vital to ensure that women get safe access to healthcare and I am fully supportive and this government is fully supportive of those safe access zones.
🕒 Today is the last day to save on a full year of digital access with our lowest EVER offer starting from £24.
Don't miss out on full access to the latest news, exclusives, opinion and premium content.
“My officials have been working at pace with Gillian Mackay in relation to the development of the legislation.
“I’m pleased to hear her ambition around the introduction of that before summer recess.
"I look forward to engaging with her personally, as well as the cabinet secretary and the ministers involved.”
Read more: Background: 'I thought abortion protests only happened in America'
Speaking after FMQs, Ms Mackay said: “This is a really important bill and I am proud to have the support of the First Minister and the Scottish Government.
“I am delighted that in the weeks ahead we will be able to publish the consultation analysis and final proposal.
“There has been a huge- amount of interest in this bill, with 12,000 people taking the time to respond. I am grateful to every single one of them.”
She added: “Lots of people have shared really awful and heart-breaking stories with me. I want to do them justice and ensure that our bill is watertight and effective, and that we can enact it as soon as possible.
“Abortion rights are human rights, and far too many people have been targeted and intimidated by these appalling protests. My Bill will stop them for good."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel