A 75-year-old lady has been criminally charged in Glasgow for standing close to a hospital with an indication inviting individuals to speak. She is accused of violating Scotland’s buffer zone regulation, which prohibits influencing habits close to abortion amenities.
Rose Docherty faces two expenses below the Abortion Providers (Protected Entry Zones) Scotland Act for displaying placards close to Queen Elizabeth College Hospital between September 2024 and February 2025, The Sunday Instances experiences.
The costs relate to alleged makes an attempt to affect people accessing, offering or facilitating abortion companies inside 200 meters of the power.
Docherty’s placard, which learn, “Coercion is against the law, right here to speak, solely in order for you,” has turn out to be the middle of what stands out as the first prosecution below the regulation in Scotland. She didn’t enter a plea throughout her look at Glasgow Sheriff Court docket and was launched on bail.
ADF Worldwide, a authorized group supporting her, stated earlier bail situations barring her from areas past the buffer zone had been rolled again throughout the Dec. 19 listening to.
“I shouldn’t be handled as a legal for inviting individuals to speak with me – lending a listening ear,” Docherty, who lives in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, stated in a press release shared by ADF Worldwide.
“I merely stood, in love and compassion, providing consensual dialog to anybody who needed to interact. No one ought to be criminalized only for providing a chat.”
The laws, which took impact in 2024, criminalizes harassment or any type of influencing inside 200 meters of abortion-providing amenities. The regulation, launched by Scottish Parliament Member Gillian Mackay, handed with near-unanimous help in Holyrood, following complaints about intimidation outdoors clinics. It contains provisions permitting the regulation to use to personal property when used for protest.
Police had supplied Docherty a proper warning after her February arrest, however she declined to simply accept it. Her refusal opened the best way for prosecution. Her arrest adopted a second incident in September, when she once more held the signal close to an abortion clinic, in line with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation’s Resolution Journal.
After her September arrest, Docherty was held in custody for a number of hours and was not offered a chair, regardless of informing authorities that she had undergone a double hip substitute.
The U.S. State Division issued a public assertion to The Sunday Instances following the arrest, calling it “one other egregious instance of the tyrannical suppression of free speech taking place throughout Europe.” It added, “America will all the time converse out towards these violations of elementary rights.”
In a speech on the Munich Safety Convention in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance cited Scotland’s buffer zone regulation for instance of threats to free expression in Europe.
Docherty’s protection has insisted that her actions had been peaceable and consensual.
“It’s not against the law to have a chat on the streets of Glasgow,” stated Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF Worldwide. “This isn’t a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest — that is merely a peaceable grandmother who held an indication providing to talk to anybody who want to have interaction.”
The buffer zone regulation permits for fines of as much as £10,000, with no higher restrict for extra severe offenses. Although a provision within the laws permits prosecution for seen prayer on personal property if it seems to be a part of a protest, lawmakers stated that non-public prayer inside houses wouldn’t be criminalized until supposed as a public demonstration.
Mackay, who launched the invoice and now serves as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, beforehand claimed the regulation was designed to “finish the intimidation and harassment we have now seen of people who find themselves accessing healthcare.”
The following listening to in Docherty’s case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
A 75-year-old lady has been criminally charged in Glasgow for standing close to a hospital with an indication inviting individuals to speak. She is accused of violating Scotland’s buffer zone regulation, which prohibits influencing habits close to abortion amenities.
Rose Docherty faces two expenses below the Abortion Providers (Protected Entry Zones) Scotland Act for displaying placards close to Queen Elizabeth College Hospital between September 2024 and February 2025, The Sunday Instances experiences.
The costs relate to alleged makes an attempt to affect people accessing, offering or facilitating abortion companies inside 200 meters of the power.
Docherty’s placard, which learn, “Coercion is against the law, right here to speak, solely in order for you,” has turn out to be the middle of what stands out as the first prosecution below the regulation in Scotland. She didn’t enter a plea throughout her look at Glasgow Sheriff Court docket and was launched on bail.
ADF Worldwide, a authorized group supporting her, stated earlier bail situations barring her from areas past the buffer zone had been rolled again throughout the Dec. 19 listening to.
“I shouldn’t be handled as a legal for inviting individuals to speak with me – lending a listening ear,” Docherty, who lives in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, stated in a press release shared by ADF Worldwide.
“I merely stood, in love and compassion, providing consensual dialog to anybody who needed to interact. No one ought to be criminalized only for providing a chat.”
The laws, which took impact in 2024, criminalizes harassment or any type of influencing inside 200 meters of abortion-providing amenities. The regulation, launched by Scottish Parliament Member Gillian Mackay, handed with near-unanimous help in Holyrood, following complaints about intimidation outdoors clinics. It contains provisions permitting the regulation to use to personal property when used for protest.
Police had supplied Docherty a proper warning after her February arrest, however she declined to simply accept it. Her refusal opened the best way for prosecution. Her arrest adopted a second incident in September, when she once more held the signal close to an abortion clinic, in line with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation’s Resolution Journal.
After her September arrest, Docherty was held in custody for a number of hours and was not offered a chair, regardless of informing authorities that she had undergone a double hip substitute.
The U.S. State Division issued a public assertion to The Sunday Instances following the arrest, calling it “one other egregious instance of the tyrannical suppression of free speech taking place throughout Europe.” It added, “America will all the time converse out towards these violations of elementary rights.”
In a speech on the Munich Safety Convention in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance cited Scotland’s buffer zone regulation for instance of threats to free expression in Europe.
Docherty’s protection has insisted that her actions had been peaceable and consensual.
“It’s not against the law to have a chat on the streets of Glasgow,” stated Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF Worldwide. “This isn’t a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest — that is merely a peaceable grandmother who held an indication providing to talk to anybody who want to have interaction.”
The buffer zone regulation permits for fines of as much as £10,000, with no higher restrict for extra severe offenses. Although a provision within the laws permits prosecution for seen prayer on personal property if it seems to be a part of a protest, lawmakers stated that non-public prayer inside houses wouldn’t be criminalized until supposed as a public demonstration.
Mackay, who launched the invoice and now serves as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, beforehand claimed the regulation was designed to “finish the intimidation and harassment we have now seen of people who find themselves accessing healthcare.”
The following listening to in Docherty’s case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
A 75-year-old lady has been criminally charged in Glasgow for standing close to a hospital with an indication inviting individuals to speak. She is accused of violating Scotland’s buffer zone regulation, which prohibits influencing habits close to abortion amenities.
Rose Docherty faces two expenses below the Abortion Providers (Protected Entry Zones) Scotland Act for displaying placards close to Queen Elizabeth College Hospital between September 2024 and February 2025, The Sunday Instances experiences.
The costs relate to alleged makes an attempt to affect people accessing, offering or facilitating abortion companies inside 200 meters of the power.
Docherty’s placard, which learn, “Coercion is against the law, right here to speak, solely in order for you,” has turn out to be the middle of what stands out as the first prosecution below the regulation in Scotland. She didn’t enter a plea throughout her look at Glasgow Sheriff Court docket and was launched on bail.
ADF Worldwide, a authorized group supporting her, stated earlier bail situations barring her from areas past the buffer zone had been rolled again throughout the Dec. 19 listening to.
“I shouldn’t be handled as a legal for inviting individuals to speak with me – lending a listening ear,” Docherty, who lives in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, stated in a press release shared by ADF Worldwide.
“I merely stood, in love and compassion, providing consensual dialog to anybody who needed to interact. No one ought to be criminalized only for providing a chat.”
The laws, which took impact in 2024, criminalizes harassment or any type of influencing inside 200 meters of abortion-providing amenities. The regulation, launched by Scottish Parliament Member Gillian Mackay, handed with near-unanimous help in Holyrood, following complaints about intimidation outdoors clinics. It contains provisions permitting the regulation to use to personal property when used for protest.
Police had supplied Docherty a proper warning after her February arrest, however she declined to simply accept it. Her refusal opened the best way for prosecution. Her arrest adopted a second incident in September, when she once more held the signal close to an abortion clinic, in line with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation’s Resolution Journal.
After her September arrest, Docherty was held in custody for a number of hours and was not offered a chair, regardless of informing authorities that she had undergone a double hip substitute.
The U.S. State Division issued a public assertion to The Sunday Instances following the arrest, calling it “one other egregious instance of the tyrannical suppression of free speech taking place throughout Europe.” It added, “America will all the time converse out towards these violations of elementary rights.”
In a speech on the Munich Safety Convention in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance cited Scotland’s buffer zone regulation for instance of threats to free expression in Europe.
Docherty’s protection has insisted that her actions had been peaceable and consensual.
“It’s not against the law to have a chat on the streets of Glasgow,” stated Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF Worldwide. “This isn’t a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest — that is merely a peaceable grandmother who held an indication providing to talk to anybody who want to have interaction.”
The buffer zone regulation permits for fines of as much as £10,000, with no higher restrict for extra severe offenses. Although a provision within the laws permits prosecution for seen prayer on personal property if it seems to be a part of a protest, lawmakers stated that non-public prayer inside houses wouldn’t be criminalized until supposed as a public demonstration.
Mackay, who launched the invoice and now serves as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, beforehand claimed the regulation was designed to “finish the intimidation and harassment we have now seen of people who find themselves accessing healthcare.”
The following listening to in Docherty’s case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
A 75-year-old lady has been criminally charged in Glasgow for standing close to a hospital with an indication inviting individuals to speak. She is accused of violating Scotland’s buffer zone regulation, which prohibits influencing habits close to abortion amenities.
Rose Docherty faces two expenses below the Abortion Providers (Protected Entry Zones) Scotland Act for displaying placards close to Queen Elizabeth College Hospital between September 2024 and February 2025, The Sunday Instances experiences.
The costs relate to alleged makes an attempt to affect people accessing, offering or facilitating abortion companies inside 200 meters of the power.
Docherty’s placard, which learn, “Coercion is against the law, right here to speak, solely in order for you,” has turn out to be the middle of what stands out as the first prosecution below the regulation in Scotland. She didn’t enter a plea throughout her look at Glasgow Sheriff Court docket and was launched on bail.
ADF Worldwide, a authorized group supporting her, stated earlier bail situations barring her from areas past the buffer zone had been rolled again throughout the Dec. 19 listening to.
“I shouldn’t be handled as a legal for inviting individuals to speak with me – lending a listening ear,” Docherty, who lives in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, stated in a press release shared by ADF Worldwide.
“I merely stood, in love and compassion, providing consensual dialog to anybody who needed to interact. No one ought to be criminalized only for providing a chat.”
The laws, which took impact in 2024, criminalizes harassment or any type of influencing inside 200 meters of abortion-providing amenities. The regulation, launched by Scottish Parliament Member Gillian Mackay, handed with near-unanimous help in Holyrood, following complaints about intimidation outdoors clinics. It contains provisions permitting the regulation to use to personal property when used for protest.
Police had supplied Docherty a proper warning after her February arrest, however she declined to simply accept it. Her refusal opened the best way for prosecution. Her arrest adopted a second incident in September, when she once more held the signal close to an abortion clinic, in line with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Affiliation’s Resolution Journal.
After her September arrest, Docherty was held in custody for a number of hours and was not offered a chair, regardless of informing authorities that she had undergone a double hip substitute.
The U.S. State Division issued a public assertion to The Sunday Instances following the arrest, calling it “one other egregious instance of the tyrannical suppression of free speech taking place throughout Europe.” It added, “America will all the time converse out towards these violations of elementary rights.”
In a speech on the Munich Safety Convention in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance cited Scotland’s buffer zone regulation for instance of threats to free expression in Europe.
Docherty’s protection has insisted that her actions had been peaceable and consensual.
“It’s not against the law to have a chat on the streets of Glasgow,” stated Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF Worldwide. “This isn’t a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest — that is merely a peaceable grandmother who held an indication providing to talk to anybody who want to have interaction.”
The buffer zone regulation permits for fines of as much as £10,000, with no higher restrict for extra severe offenses. Although a provision within the laws permits prosecution for seen prayer on personal property if it seems to be a part of a protest, lawmakers stated that non-public prayer inside houses wouldn’t be criminalized until supposed as a public demonstration.
Mackay, who launched the invoice and now serves as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, beforehand claimed the regulation was designed to “finish the intimidation and harassment we have now seen of people who find themselves accessing healthcare.”
The following listening to in Docherty’s case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
