1 week Ago
MORE than 100 anti-abortion protesters gathered near Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on Sunday evening. The event was part of the Texas-based group 40 Days for Life’s efforts to "pray to end abortion" around the world. In Scotland, attendees are typically recruited through local churches, particularly the Paisley Diocese, whose Bishop John Keenan was in attendance.
(Image: Gemma Clark) As the fallout from the overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States continues, few women are comforted by the sight of how many people in their local area would like to see similar restrictions imposed in Scotland. Nonetheless, the fact that the group was able to gather so close to the hospital underscores how baseless the fearmongering surrounding Scotland’s Safe Access Zones is –particularly the claims made by US Vice President JD Vance. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Vance alleged that the Scottish Government had warned residents within safe access zones against praying in their own homes.
Gillian Mackay MSP, who introduced the legislation as a private member’s bill, dismissed the claim as “nonsense and dangerous fearmongering”. Sunday's protest demonstrates just how close anti-abortion activists can still get to hospitals, and serves as a reminder of how modest the original buffer zone proposals were. READ MORE: Foreign Office issues urgent warning to Glaswegians travelling to this popular spot Protesters remain capable of upsetting women – one local resident confronted them in a video that went viral in March – and they continue to perform their street theatre without being "persecuted" for “thought crimes”, as some have claimed.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of all this is the growing influence of American religious organisations attempting to interfere with Scottish democracy. Earlier this month, The National reported that an anti-abortion group active in Scotland has received over £1 million in US funding, representing a nearly 300% increase in two years. The ADF claims to have played a key role in overturning Roe v Wade, and is designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre in the US.
READ MORE: Kenny Logan vows to ‘keep going’ until MND cure found ahead of cycle challenge In February, one woman became the first person arrested for refusing to leave the buffer zone at the QEUH. Further attempts to challenge the Safe Access Zones have come from the Scottish Family Party (SFP), which has staged protests within buffer zones in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and most recently at Glasgow’s Sandyford Clinic. The 2025 State of Hate report by Hope Not Hate states that the SFP opposes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, resists hate crime legislation, maintains links to the fascist Homeland Party, posts increasing volumes of anti-LGBTQ+ content, and previously claimed it would “brick up” the entrance to Sandyford.
There are no "thought crimes" or Christian persecution in Scotland. What we are witnessing instead is the presence of dark money and darker motives—forces seeking to turn back the clock on the rights of women and minority groups in Scotland..
