A Scottish court has dismissed charges against Rose Docherty, a 75-year-old woman who became the first person prosecuted under Scotland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act 2024 after holding a placard outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Docherty was arrested near the QEUH on two separate occasions — in May and September — while holding a sign reading: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.”
The 2024 legislation prohibits activities that could “influence or alarm others” around hospitals and clinics where abortions are carried out, banning protests and vigils within 200 meters of 30 clinics across Scotland. Breaches can result in fines of up to £10,000 or unlimited penalties in more serious cases.
Docherty described her arrest as an “alarming” and “surreal” experience, stating: “I don’t feel I was breaking the law because I feel this law is an unjust law. I was just standing with a sign that was stating a fact that coercion is a crime. I was there to speak with people only if they wanted to speak with me. I wasn’t approaching anyone, I wasn’t behaving in a manner that was intimidating or harassing anyone.”
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said it “notes the decision of the court and will consider it carefully.”
A 75-year-old woman standing alone with a sign stating a legal fact — that coercion is a crime — was arrested, charged, and dragged through Scotland’s court system under a law so broadly written that it ensnared peaceful, non-confrontational presence as a criminal act. The court’s dismissal is the right outcome, but the fact that it came to prosecution at all reveals exactly how these buffer zone laws are designed to function: not to prevent harassment, but to eliminate any visible pro-life presence near abortion facilities entirely.