Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill
This Member’s Bill has been introduced by Gillian Mackay MSP. It creates safe access zones around all places providing abortion services in Scotland.
The Bill is at Stage 2
Contents
Overview
This Member’s Bill has been introduced by Gillian Mackay MSP. It creates safe access zones around all places providing abortion services in Scotland.
The Bill makes it an offence for a person in a safe access zone to act in certain ways. This includes any behaviour that might stop a person from getting an abortion or make them feel scared or upset about getting an abortion.
It would also be an offence if a person behaved in these ways in other places, if their behaviour could be seen or heard from the safe access zone. For example, where someone's house is within a safe access zone boundary, they could commit an offence if they do something which could be seen through their window by a person in the safe access zone, and which is meant to try to stop someone from having an abortion or makes them feel scared or upset about getting an abortion.
You can read more about what this Bill does in the Explanatory Notes (164KB, pdf) posted 05 October 2023
Why the Bill was created
In May 2022, Gillian MacKay MSP noted her intention to introduce a Member’s Bill to establish safe access zones.
Following a conference on abortion care the Scottish Government and Gillian MacKay MSP agreed to work together on this Bill.
You can read more about why this Bill has been created in the Policy Memorandum (404KB, pdf) posted 05 October 2023