Gillian Mackay

Gillian Mackay said that intimidation and harassment outside these healthcare facilities must end, and that legislation was the only way to ensure that everyone accessing such facilities could do so without the threat of encountering protests.

She said: “For too long people wishing to access healthcare where abortions are provided have risked facing intimidation from protestors gathered outside these facilities.

“It is time we ensured that everyone who needs to access abortion services can do so free from intimidation and harassment.

“That’s why I intend to bring forward legislation that would create protest free buffer zones outside these hospitals and clinics.

“Today, I am launching a consultation to hear from the public, particularly from those who have experience of encountering such protests. By sharing their views, those with lived experience can help me develop the most appropriate and robust legislation possible.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said any law would have to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

“On all legislation we have to ensure that legislation is ECHR compliant and when you are, as some people would say, interfering in the right to protest there’s just a complex legal issue that we have to work our way through,” she said.