Fraser Sutherland

The annual gathering will take place at Surgeons’ Hall on Friday 27 October, with guest speakers including:

• Gillian Mackay MSP and Lucy Grieve, co-founder of Back Off Scotland, talking about the ongoing campaign to secure buffer zones around abortion clinics;
• teacher and activist Gemma Clark and Dr Isioma Okolo discussing the need for education and activism to make the case for reproductive rights;
• Rachael Clarke of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and feminist legal scholar Dr Lynsey Mitchell on the decriminalisation of abortion in Scotland; and
• Maggie Ardiente, a board member of Humanists International and president of the Secular Coalition for America, in pre-recorded discussion about lessons from the US for the Scottish abortion rights movement.

Humanist Society Scotland CEO Fraser Sutherland said: “We are at a crucial and complex stage in the global fight to give women full and equal access to abortion healthcare.

“Even as the buffer-zones bill to ensure safe access to abortion services passes through Holyrood, our humanist allies in the USA are reeling from the overturning of Roe v Wade.

“This conference is a chance to take stock. We will hear from speakers centrally involved in the major movements for reproductive rights in Scotland and globally.”