Charges against a grandmother for offering advice to women outside an abortion clinic in Scotland have been dropped, in what is being described as a major victory for free speech in the United Kingdom.
Last year, Glaswegian grandmother Rose Docherty, 75, was arrested twice for standing within the proximity of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital abortion clinic while holding a sign that read: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”.
For this, she was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, which bans citizens from protesting, holding vigil, or praying within 656 feet of abortion clinics in the country.
Her latest arrest in September came despite the Christian faith grandmother having not spoken to anyone seeking an abortion or obstructing access to the facilities.
In a statement published by the Christian Legal Advocacy Group ADF International, which helped in her legal case, Docherty said that the decision by the court to drop the case was a “major victory for free speech in Scotland and the UK. It shows that peacefully offering consensual conversation on a public street, which is all I have ever done, can never be a crime.”
However, she noted that in many ways, the process was the punishment, explaining that after being arrested in September, she had faced seven months of criminal proceedings.
“My case shows how ‘buffer zones’ are used by authorities to impose censorship. ‘Buffer zone’ legislation must be repealed in Scotland and across the UK to ensure it is not misused to target peaceful and lawful expression again in the future, as has now happened to me twice,” Docherty said.
“The resources used by the authorities to target me, a 75-year-old grandmother, for offering to speak with people, have been totally wasted. Authorities should focus on tackling real crime in Glasgow, not censoring a Catholic grandmother.”
Barrister and Legal Counsel for ADF International, Jeremiah Igunnubole, added that the prosecution of Docherty had “no place in a free and democratic society,” arguing that it is wrong to criminalise people for peaceful speech.
“This prosecution is emblematic of the deepening free speech crisis in the UK. We call on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, together with Police Scotland, to cease such targeted prosecutions and instead focus their resources on tackling the serious and growing crime problems Scotland faces,” Igunnubole said.
“Above all, this case has starkly exposed the flaws in these poorly drafted, censorial, and undemocratic ‘buffer zone’ laws. They have created confusion for police officers and delivered injustice to Rose and others who have endured the humiliation of arrest, imprisonment, and prosecution simply for seeking to love their neighbour and exercise their rights in the gentlest manner possible.
“Parliament must act urgently to repeal these buffer zone laws and replace them with robust protections that genuinely strengthen freedom of expression.”
The law in Scotland has drawn criticism from abroad, including from the Trump administration, with Vice President JD Vance highlighting the censorious and anti-Christian nature of the so-called buffer zone legislation.
In his landmark speech before the Munich Security Conference in Germany last year, Vice President Vance said that the Scottish law demonstrated that freedom of speech “is in retreat” in Europe.
While the law is more restrictive in Scotland, there have also been cases in England, where local constituencies have imposed restrictions. This has led to instances where Christians have been arrested for silently praying inside their own minds outside of abortion clinics.
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