EVANGELICAL Christians and members of the Scottish Greens are set to clash in Glasgow tomorrow at an anti-abortion rally.
The 40-Days for Life group have spent lent, the last 39 days, outside the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital holding placards, and praying for women going for abortions.
There have been similar protests in Aberdeen, Dundee, Falkirk and Edinburgh.
The group, which originated in the US, has high level-support, with the Pope backing their work. Leo Cushley, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, even joined a vigil in Falkirk last week.
They say their mission is “a focused 40-day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.”
Critics, including the Greens, say this isn’t about help but about intimidating and harassing women at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. In Nottingham the local council were forced to secured an injunction against the leader of the local protest.
That came after the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said one woman visiting the hospital suffered an anxiety attack after seeing three activists in a situation she described as “very scary”.
Tomorrow afternoon, on Palm Sunday, at the end of the 40 days, the Glasgow group plan to hold a vigil in the city’s George Square.
Members of the local Green Party Women’s Network will be staging their own counter rally to voice their support for a pro-choice approach to abortion.
Jessie Duncan, from the Greens, said: “In the Scottish Greens, we consider that access to abortion is a human right and all reproductive health services must be delivered on the basis that all people have the right to decide whether and how to control their own fertility.
“Decisions about whether to have children, when and how many to have should be a matter of free choice and people should be able to exercise this basic, legal right free from any form of intimidation or harassment.
“We recognise that the decision whether or not to continue with a pregnancy is never undertaken lightly and is a difficult emotional time.
“In order to protect our own hard-won rights and to stand in solidarity with those who are still fighting, we must be ready to challenge the currently small but very vocal wave of anti-abortion activism.”
The 40 Days For Life group did not respond to requests for a comment. This is the third year the Christian group has held vigils in Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel