Nicola: Abortion demo would have worsened my miscarriage ordeal

Deeply personal intervention in buffer zones row

NICOLA Sturgeon has said her miscarriage would have been made ‘much more upsetting’ by antiabortion protesters brandishing harrowing images on placards.

The First Minister, who previously spoke about the ‘painful experience’ of losing a baby in 2011, has announced her government will back a Bill to create ‘buffer zones’ around clinics which carry out terminations.

With the US-based group 40 Days for Life now conducting demonstrations outside some abortion facilities in Scotland, Miss Sturgeon told of the ‘deeply distressing’ impact these activities can have.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme, she said: ‘The only personal experience I can bring to bear on this is... when I had a miscarriage.

‘Being in a hospital around that, and one of the most upsetting and traumatic experiences of my life, trying to imagine how much more upsetting that would have been had I had to go in or leave that hospital and walk past images of foetuses on placards.

‘That personal experience gives me some insight into how deeply distressing that must be for not just women accessing abortion services, but women accessing a whole range of different services.’

Pro-life campaigners in the US have recently been boosted by the country’s Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v Wade ruling on abortion.

Miss Sturgeon said such groups ‘want to take away women’s control over their own bodies and rights’.

She said: ‘Am I surprised that they want to try to export that to other countries and to stir up the same sort of opposition to women’s rights? No I am not, but I’m pretty determined that I will do everything I can to resist it.’ Miss Sturgeon confirmed this month the Scottish Government will work with Green MSP Gillian Mackay ‘to safeguard the access of women to abortion services without harassment or intimidation’.

A Member’s Bill brought forward by Miss Mackay aims to create zones around abortion centres, where those opposed to the practice would be forbidden from demonstrating.

However, Shawn Carney, chief executive of 40 Days for Life, told BBC Scotland the group could back legal action against such legislation.

‘We’re prepared to do a lot, legally and peacefully,’ he said.

‘We would be prepared to take the appropriate steps, and I am telling you, there are many allies with us on this. They don’t agree with us on abortion but there are many people in organisations throughout the UK that think it’s absolutely shameful that we’re being targeted.’

Miss Sturgeon has said she wants to ensure the Bill is ‘legally robust and, hopefully, legally watertight’.