Scottish grandmother cleared over abortion buffer zone arrest

A Scottish grandmother arrested for standing silently with a sign near an abortion clinic in Glasgow will not face prosecution.

The decision has been welcomed by pro-life campaigners and Parliamentarians as a crucial victory for civil liberties and freedom of speech.

Rose Docherty, 75, was detained in February after she stood quietly outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, within the designated 200-metre "buffer zone", holding a sign that read: “Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, only if you want.”

Under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act, individuals can face an unlimited fine for praying, handing out literature, or attempting to influence anyone in relation to abortion near clinics.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service initially offered Docherty a formal warning in exchange for dropping the case, but she refused, calling the warning “unjust”. The case was dropped last week without prosecution.

“This decision seems to indicate that I was not breaking the law,” Docherty said. “There is nothing intimidatory or harassing about an elderly woman standing by the roadside offering to lend a listening ear.”

She added, “This is a victory not just for me, but for everyone in Scotland who believes we should be free to hold a peaceful conversation. Criminalising kindness has no place in a free society.”

DUP MP Carla Lockhart also welcomed the outcome, calling it “a significant victory for common sense and for the protection of fundamental freedoms.” She warned that buffer zones risk criminalising peaceful expression and even silent thought.

“These laws are not about tackling harassment or abuse,” Lockhart said. “They are based on the notion of ‘influence’ being an offence. As we have witnessed, this can then be used against someone standing peacefully and even silently in the street.”

The case attracted global interest, with the US State Department commenting: “We applaud Scotland’s sensible decision to refrain from further legal action... The United States stands with all those fighting for free speech and religious liberty.”

Meanwhile, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, is being investigated by police for silently praying near a Birmingham abortion clinic, despite previously being cleared twice.

“Silent prayer cannot possibly be a crime – everyone has the right to freedom of thought,” she said.

ADF International, representing both women, described buffer zones as “among the most concerning frontiers of censorship in the modern west.”