SNP’s abortion plans ‘deeply disturbing’

The SNP’s commitment to enshrining “the best to abortion” within the structure of an independent Scotland is “deeply disturbing”, a pro-life group has said.

The commitment was contained inside a resolution proposed by the party’s Elgin branch. It was passed by a show of hands on the SNP’s National Conference on Sunday. The SNP’s website states that when resolutions are adopted, they turn out to be SNP policy and “could be taken forward in government or championed at Westminster”.

The resolution states that ought to Scotland turn out to be independent, the “right to abortion” could be written into its structure. 

It described legal abortion as “a fundamental aspect of healthcare and bodily autonomy” and said that it “shouldn’t be subject to the changing tides of political or judicial decisions”. 

The resolution claimed that by enshrining abortion into Scotland’s structure, it might safeguard access “against any potential political or legal regression”.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said that if the proposal were to be realised, it might make abortion on demand legal for any reason as much as birth. 

She said this could represent a “radical change” and result in Scotland having “one of the extreme abortion regimes on the planet”.

“As one in every of the delegates made clear, the structure of a rustic acts as its foundational document, defining, amongst other things, the country’s basic principles of presidency and law,” said Ms Robinson.

“It is deeply disturbing that SNP delegates have voted to make ending the lives of its unborn residents one in every of those foundational principles.”

She added, “This is a radical and inhumane proposal that might likely result in the lives of many more babies being lost to abortion in Scotland.” 

SNP delegate Peter Grant warned that some supporters of independence may find it “extremely difficult” to back a structure that enshrines a right to abortion. 

“I don’t desire to see anything put in that structure that jeopardises the opportunity of the structure becoming the structure of an actual independent Scotland somewhat than simply a theoretical one,” he said.