Protests exterior abortion clinics in Scotland are a “shame”, Humza Yousaf has declared.
The Scottish Well being Secretary urged demonstrators to collect exterior the Scottish Parliament as an alternative of “intimidating and harassing” girls who're making an attempt to entry companies.
He spoke out as Nicola Sturgeon stated she would convene and chair a round-table summit which greater than a dozen girls’s organisations have demanded to debate entry to abortion clinics.
Responding to questions from Scottish Labour’s Monica Lennon on the controversial anti-abortion “vigils” exterior clinics throughout the nation, the First Minister stated assaults on the rights of girls have been “deeply regarding”.
Sturgeon stated the federal government was actively contemplating introduce “buffer zones” round clinics in a method that may not be open to authorized problem.
She urged councils to make use of by legal guidelines to maintain protesters at a distance and despatched a powerful message to protesters to take their placards to parliament and never the doorway of clinics.
Sturgeon stated: “All people with out exception ought to have the appropriate to entry well being care with out concern and trepidation and that applies to any lady in search of entry to abortion companies.”
“It's a democracy a proper to protest however come to parliament and protest in opposition to lawmakers, don't trigger girls concern, anxiousness and intimidation.”
Anti-abortion SNP MSP John Mason, who has backed protesters, requested if the 24 week restrict on abortions can be underneath assessment within the summit however he obtained brief shrift from the First Minister.
Labour’s Monica Lennon MSP welcomed the First Minister’s dedication to a roundtable summit amid rising tensions over anti-abortion protests exterior healthcare amenities in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
She stated: “Protests have been gaining momentum in latest weeks, and I believe most individuals could have been appalled and saddened by a number of the footage from exterior the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow yesterday."
“At this time looks like an actual turning level within the marketing campaign to make sure girls who're accessing abortion healthcare in Scotland can accomplish that with out intimidation and harassment. It is crucial that the emergency talks get underway shortly.”
Earlier Well being Secretary Yousaf stated: “I believe a few of these protests that we’ve seen are a shame, and I don’t use that phrase calmly.
“I don’t take away from individuals’s viewpoints that they may have. I do know there’ll be individuals on numerous totally different sides of the controversy in relation to abortion."
There have been calls for for buffer zones to be launched in a bid to forestall girls being harassed as they entry healthcare.
Scottish Inexperienced MSP Gillian Mackay is about to introduce a Member’s Invoice at Holyrood to legislate for his or her implementation round abortion clinics
Yousaf additionally stated feedback in defence of the demonstrations from his SNP colleague John Mason have been “plain fallacious”.
Mason, the MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, got here underneath fireplace on the weekend for saying clinics “push abortion with out laying out the professionals and cons”.
He has admitted beforehand attending one of many demonstrations, and has stated he believes abortion is “seldom important or very important”.
The Well being Secretary stated his social gathering colleague’s feedback have been “misjudged” and “ill-informed”.
Yousaf added: “I might counsel to John Mason that he goes in and meets clinicians. Meet these which might be concerned in offering companies.”
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