from Christian Today
Rose Docherty has had her plea hearing postponed to 3 February following the failure of the Scottish prosecutor to provide disclosure in a timely manner.
Docherty, a Scottish grandmother, has been charged with breaching an abortion clinic “buffer zone”. She is the first person to be charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024.
The law creates a 200-meter zone around abortion facilities in which it is forbidden to harass, intimidate or “influence” a person seeking an abortion.
Docherty disputes that her behaviour was a breach of the law, noting that she simply stood in the zone with a sign that read “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”.
Her case has drawn the attention of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and even the US State Department, both of which have raised concerns that abortion buffer zones are infringing on civil liberties.