MEDICS have urged the Scottish government to act against “intimidation and harassment” outside abortion clinics in Scotland.

Pro-choice campaigners urged the Scottish government today to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics to prevent women being targeted by protesters.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has written to Scottish women’s health minister Maree Todd to express concern over protesters being able to intimidate service users after more than 100 anti-abortion activists gathered outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow last Sunday.

BPAS, made up of a group of consultants, estimates that thousands of women having an abortion in Scotland every year are targeted by protesters.

Buffer zones within 150 metres of the entrance to a clinic or hospital would ban activities designed to stop women from accessing abortion, the organisation said.

In a letter to Ms Todd, the group of 76 clinicians from the Glasgow hospital wrote: “For the last six years, our patients have been subjected to these protests by associates of the US-based campaign group 40 Days for Life.

“This group seeks to restrict women’s access to healthcare.”

The BPAS letter added that the patients “should be spared the deplorable intimidation and harassment which they currently receive from protesters.”

The group told Ms Todd it was time to “follow the lead” of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which passed a Safe Access Zone Bill last month.

Dr Greg Irwin, lead signatory and consultant paediatric radiologist in Glasgow, said: “We know first-hand how distressing this harassment is for our patients, which makes it infuriating for us as clinical staff to have to pass these groups day-in-day-out.”

Back Off Scotland, which has been calling for buffer zones since October 2020, said Ms Todd needed to “take swift action to introduce universal buffer zones around clinics to protect those accessing these services.”

Alice Murray, who was confronted by protesters as she attended Chalmers Clinic in Edinburgh, said: “There were roughly seven protesters all standing on one side of the street, meaning they were impossible to ignore.

“I attended the clinic alone and felt targeted by the protesters.”

Ms Todd condemned “in the strongest possible terms, any attempts to intimidate women as they choose to access abortion services.”

A consultation on a member’s Bill brought forward by Green MSP Gillian Mackay to introduce buffer zones is currently being finalised and Ms Todd said she is working “constructively” with her on bringing forward the Bill.