Abortion Services Bill passes first stage

On 30 April, the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill passed the first stage in the Scottish Parliament. 

The bill was introduced by Scottish Green Party MSP Gillian MacKay last year, aiming to provide safe access zones to all locations providing abortion services within Scotland. 

Its progression to stage two comes amidst the appointment of Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) MSP John Swinney as First Minister, who has selected former finance secretary Kate Forbes as his Deputy First Minister. 

Forbes has said she is willing to work with Gillian MacKay, the MSP who introduced the Safe Access Zones Bill, and voted for the Bill at stage one. 

However, the Scottish Green Party has raised concerns about the appointment of Forbes, due to what they described as her “deeply conservative views”. 

Stage one of Bills passing through the Scottish Parliament involve Committees, such as Health, Social Care, and Sport Committee, which produce reports on the Bill.

Following this, MSPs will then debate the bill and decide its “general principles”. 

Although Forbes has been supportive of the Bill at this initial stage, the group Back off Scotland have raised concerns about Forbes. 

On Instagram, Back off Scotland said that although they were happy that Forbes had backed the first stage of the Bill, they were concerned about Forbes statements previously regarding being against the removal of  “silent prayer”. 

Back off Scotland are concerned that the continuation of “silent prayer” could lead to continued harassment of women outside of facilities where abortions are performed. 

Silent prayer and “prayer vigils” are used by organisations such as 40 Days for Life when setting out their intentions when protesting outside of abortion centres, such as Chalmers Centre in Edinburgh.

Stage two of the Bill is set to follow, during which MSPs will propose “amendments to the Bill”, which are considered by the Health, Social Care, and Sport Committee. 

Back off Scotland have said they will encourage supporters to contact their MSPs and lobby to support or vote against any amendments introduced in stage two. 

The Health, Social Care, and Sport Committee will meet on 28 May to consider any amendments.

“Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber 3” by Colin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.