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Scotland’s abortion laws: our bodies, our choices?
HAILEY MAXWELL explains that while safe access zones represent progress, a patchwork of centuries-old laws and common law still leaves women and healthcare providers vulnerable to prosecution
Women's rights campaigners in Westminster, London after taking part in a march from the Royal Courts of Justice calling for decriminalisation of abortion. Picture date: Saturday June 17, 2023

THE Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force in September, aiming to provide legislative protection from harassment for those accessing or working in abortion services by creating Safe Access Zones around clinics and hospitals.

Similar legislation which will apply in England and Wales is on the way. This Bill is a victory for the grassroots activists Back Off Scotland, who have been at the forefront of the campaign for the last four years.

Writing in the Herald, co-founder of Back Off Scotland Lucy Grieve has indicated that the group’s “next priority” is campaigning to expand Scotland’s abortion services and that they are “looking forward to working with the Scottish government over the coming months to look at ways in which we can reform Scotland’s archaic abortion law.”

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
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