Church leaders welcome dismissal of charges against pro-life grandmother

The Catholic Church in Scotland has welcomed the dismissal of all charges against a 75-year-old grandmother accused of breaching an abortion clinic “buffer zone”.

Rose Docherty was arrested in September for standing silently in a zone with an indication that read “Coercion is against the law, here to speak, only in case you want”.

Under Scotland’s controversial buffer zone law, it is unlawful to “influence” an individual in search of to utilize abortion facilities inside 200 metres of the location. The MSP who proposed the law confirmed in a radio interview that even silent prayer by the window inside a personal home may very well be a breach of the law depending on who’s walking past the window on the time.

Docherty was the primary person to be criminally charged under the buffer zone law. The dismissal of all charges has been welcomed by many.

Bishop John Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said, “The ruling is a very important reminder that peaceful, consensual conversation in a public place is protected, and that criminal offences have to be clearly and properly made out on the evidence.

“This case should prompt a careful and thorough review of how ‘protected access zone’ powers are applied in order that they don’t infringe fundamental rights.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, which supported Docherty in her case, said the ruling was a “significant victory for freedom of expression within the United Kingdom” and called for the repeal of all buffer zone laws.

There have been quite a lot of other high profile cases against people accused of breaching the ‘protected access zones’.

Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was convicted in October 2024 for silently praying inside an abortion zone, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the Director of March For Life UK, has been arrested and acquitted multiple times, although she again faces a trial in October for one more alleged breach.

In Northern Ireland, Pastor Clive Johnston recently stood trial for holding an open air service inside the zone, which made no mention of abortion in any respect. He is awaiting judgment.

Although theoretically the law is supposed to stop any type of influence in any respect on a lady considering an abortion, it has only ever been used against those perceived to be discouraging abortion. Pro-life campaigners have discovered evidence of abortion providers using high pressure sales tactics, even on women who’ve decided to not have an abortion. No arrests have been made for influencing a lady to have an abortion inside the zones.