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American anti-choice campaigners pledge not to break Scots buffer-zone law
People take part in an anti-abortion protest, organised by 40 Days For Life, on Hardgate Road, close to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, February 14, 2024

A US religious fundamentalist anti-choice campaign group has pledged not to break Scotland’s buffer-zone laws as it prepares for over a month of protest.

Between March 5 and April 13, Texas-based 40 Days For Life will return to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in an effort to harass women out of seeking abortion services at the site. 

The announcement comes just one week after a 74-year-old became the first person in Scotland to be arrested under new buffer-zone laws which prohibit the harassment within 200m of clinics, prompting the Green MSP who introduced the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, Gillian Mackay to comment: “This kind of intimidation has no place in a modern or progressive Scotland. 

“I urge 40 Days For Life and anyone else who is planning to protest in a safe access zone to think again, as they will be stopped and there will be consequences.”

Apparently accepting Ms Mackay’s plea, 40 Days for Life’s Mary Gilroy has now confirmed their harassment activities would remain outside 200m limit, stating: “The 40 Days for Life prayer group will not be operating within the buffer zone.”

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