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| Britain | |
| Grandmother arrested at abortion clinic warns of expanding free speech 'buffer zones' | |
| 2025-05-18 | |
| [FoxNews] Rose Docherty, 74, was arrested for standing outside a clinic with a sign reading: 'Coercion is a crime, here to talk if you want.' A grandmother in the U.K. who was arrested for holding a sign outside an abortion clinic is sounding the alarm against further attacks on free speech as lawmakers move to expand so-called "buffer zones" outside such facilities. Rose Docherty, 74, was arrested in Glasgow, Scotland near the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in February for holding a sign that read: "Coercion is a crime, here to talk if you want." Docherty was the first person to be arrested and charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, which went into effect in September, the BBC reported. The law prohibits any protests or vigils from taking place within 200m or 656ft of 30 clinics offering abortion services in Scotland, but the law specifies that the Safe Access Zone could be extended if considered appropriate. Docherty’s arrest came just days after Vice President JD Vance highlighted the law as an example of free speech being under attack in the U.K. Now, Gillian Mackay, the Green Party parliamentarian responsible for introducing the buffer zones legislation, has now suggested that the Scottish government consider expanding the area of prohibition on "influence" outside hospitals, according to ADF International, a Christian legal advocacy group. Docherty has rejected a formal warning from the Crown Office - arguing that it was "unjust" - and is waiting to find out what action may now be taken against her. In her first broadcast interview since her arrest, she told the BBC she had "no reason to regret" the incident, noting it was an "alarming" and "surreal" experience. She said she had read the law and believed her actions did not violate the legislation. "I gave consideration to what I was doing…I looked at the law and saw what it said I couldn’t do, and thought, OK, well, this is what I can do…I can offer to listen, and if anyone wants to come and speak to me, they can do so, only if they want to come and speak with me," she told BBC’s Scotcast. She said she is prepared to go to prison over the offense. Docherty has also said that the government essentially wants to stamp out any opposition to abortion. "I believe it wouldn’t matter where we stood…it wouldn’t matter how far they pushed the ‘buffer zone,’" she told ADF International, a Christian legal advocacy group.
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| Posted by:Skidmark |