A invoice banning peaceable pro-life vigils, together with prayers and gives of assist exterior abortion clinics, was overwhelmingly handed by Scottish MPs on Wednesday evening.
Gillian Mackay's Abortion Companies (Secure Entry Zones) (Scotland) Invoice handed Holyrood by 118 votes to 1.
As soon as launched, anybody attending a pro-life vigil in a buffer zone exterior a Scottish hospital or abortion facility would face a high-quality of as much as £10,000.
The ban would additionally exclude silent prayer in designated zones.
“At present's vote implies that by no means once more ought to a lady be disadvantaged of her dignity, privateness or feelings when she chooses to have an abortion. It enshrines her proper to take action with out concern or intimidation,” Mackay mentioned.
“A girl's proper to determine what occurs to her physique is nobody's enterprise however her personal, and that’s the message being despatched loud and clear throughout Scotland tonight.”
The Society for the Safety of the Unborn (SPUC) mentioned the ban would infringe on civil liberties and stop girls in danger from getting assist exterior of clinics.
SPUC common secretary Michael Robinson known as the laws “deeply flawed” and mentioned it “seeks to police areas of our non-public lives the place the state has no proper to intrude, specifically non-public ideas and prayers”.
“By voting in favor of the Abortion Companies (Secure Entry Zones) Invoice, MSPs have trampled not less than 4 European Conventions on Human Rights and launched thought crime into Scottish society,” he mentioned.
“Scotland has taken a colossal step backwards for civil liberties, establishing itself as probably the most intolerant and anti-liberty nation within the Western world.
“It is a really darkish day in Scottish historical past.
The SPUC mentioned it was contemplating a judicial evaluation of the laws. He’s urging folks to vote for pro-life candidates within the upcoming common election.
“This devastating scenario in Scotland exhibits how very important it’s to worth your voice and elect a pro-life consultant,” mentioned Robinson.
