Press Release: The Great Free Speech Con: How Anti-Abortion Protests and US-Backed Campaigners Exploit Arrests

London, 27 September 2025 – Abortion Rights is speaking out following the second arrest of anti-abortion activist Rose Docherty outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. This is not an issue of free speech, but a calculated tactic designed to create political theatre at the expense of women’s healthcare.

Docherty was arrested under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024, which makes it an offence to harass, obstruct or attempt to influence women or staff within 200 metres of abortion services. She had already been charged earlier this year under the same law and openly stated that she was willing to face prison. This was not a misunderstanding of the law – it was a deliberate choice to defy it.

For nearly a decade, doctors and staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have spoken about how these protests upset and intimidate patients. That is exactly why safe access zones were introduced: to stop “totally unacceptable abuse and obstruction,” as MSP Gillian Mackay, who sponsored the legislation, put it.

Chair Kerry Abel said:
“This is not about free speech. It’s about orchestrated harassment of women at the most vulnerable moment of their lives. Buffer zones safeguard healthcare, not silence debate. The anti-choice movement deliberately courts confrontation to fuel a political agenda, and women in Scotland – and across the UK – should not be collateral damage in their campaign theatre.”

Dr Audrey Brown from Abortion Rights Scotland said: “Ms Docherty has once again chosen to break the law to harass and upset those accessing reproductive healthcare in Scotland. She claims she offers a chance to talk. Women seeking abortion care will not want to discuss their private decision with a law-breaker on the pavement.    If people need to speak to someone, they can talk confidentially to a specially trained member of NHS staff. This publicity stunt by Ms Docherty seeks to sow division in Scotland, and to threaten our reproductive freedoms.”

This case has also attracted the support of ADF International, the global arm of US-based Alliance Defending Freedom. ADF has been active in opposing reproductive rights across Europe, including through legal challenges to buffer zones in the UK. Their involvement shows that these protests are not isolated acts of conscience but part of a coordinated international campaign to restrict access to abortion.

The debate has even crossed the Atlantic. US Vice President JD Vance has publicly criticised Britain’s buffer zone laws, citing UK cases as supposed evidence of free speech being criminalised. His comments sparked outrage from UK politicians, who rejected his claims as misleading. Vance’s intervention underlines how US anti-abortion talking points are being imported into the British debate — amplifying cases like Docherty’s for political effect.

Abortion Rights will continue to defend buffer zones and insist that women have the right to access healthcare free from harassment, intimidation or political games – whether those tactics originate in the UK or are imported from abroad.

ENDS

Media contact:
Kerry Abel :+44 7979 535242/ Audrey Brown abortionrightsscotland@gmail.com

Notes to Editors

• Abortion Rights is the only grassroots pro-choice campaign in Britain, working for safe, free, legal and accessible advocating for access to abortion free from harassment and political interference.
• The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 establishes 200-metre buffer zones around abortion clinics. It is an offence within these zones to harass, obstruct, or attempt to influence women seeking services or staff providing them. Offences can result in fines of up to £10,000 or higher in serious cases.
• Rose Docherty, aged 75, became the first person charged under the Act in February 2025. She later told the BBC she was willing to go to prison for breaching the law. She was arrested again outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in September 2025.
• ADF International is the global affiliate of US-based Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group active in opposing abortion rights and LGBTQ+ equality. ADF has been involved in supporting UK protesters facing legal action under buffer zone laws.
• JD Vance, US Vice President, has publicly criticised Britain’s buffer zone laws. In early 2025 he referenced UK cases as examples of “criminalising free speech,” sparking backlash from UK politicians and campaigners.
• For further information, see:
  • Abortion Rights: www.abortionrights.org.uk
  • Abortion Rights Scotland: www.abortionrightsscotland.com