A Christian grandmother who was arrested after holding an indication offering assistance to women considering an abortion is as a result of appear in court on Friday.
Rose Docherty, 75, was first arrested on 19 February for holding a sign up an abortion clinic buffer zone in Glasgow that read “Coercion is against the law, here to speak, only for those who want”.
She was the primary person to be charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024, which makes it an offence to harass, obstruct or try to influence women or staff inside 200 metres of abortion services.
The law has come under fire due to its vague wording, which Gillian Mackay – the MSP who introduced it – admitted could criminalise someone for praying visibly from a window of their home inside the zone, “depending on who’s passing by the window.”
After Docherty’s arrest in February, the Procurator Fiscal decided a couple of months later to not prosecute her.
She was arrested again on 24 September after holding the identical sign near an abortion clinic.
She is being supported in her case by the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF), which said that after her second arrest she was held in custody for several hours and was not given a chair to sit down on in her cell, despite having had a double hip alternative. She was later charged and bailed.
Docherty’s hearing is happening on the Glasgow Sheriff Court. She has previously said she is ready to go to jail for her actions.
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