Women who underwent abortions face “trauma” as protests continue in Scotland

Women who went through abortions have told how "inescapable" and "damaging" anti-abortion protests are as Scotland sees an increase in protests outside clinics and hospitals.

By Hannah Brown
Sunday, 1st May 2022

Megan Braithwaite, 39, had an abortion for medical reasons in Edinburgh eight years ago. It was her first pregnancy and both her and her husband were trying for a baby.

"It was at the 20-week screening when we found out that the baby had a fetal anomaly and it was truly awful”, she said.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/women-who-underwent-abortions-face-trauma-as-protests-continue-in-scotland-3676260

Anti-abortion protests in Scotland following ‘Texas playbook’ as national plan on buffer zones needed

As anti-abortion protests swell outside my city’s flagship hospital, I and many others fear Scotland is turning into a hostile place for women accessing healthcare.

By Hannah
Brown
Saturday, 16th April 2022

Across the pond, prosecutors dropped murder charges last week against a
26-year-old southern Texas woman over an alleged “self-induced abortion".

After time in prison, Texas lawyers found she had not committed a crime. This
woman’s case is an example of the lengths the red states are willing to go to
restrict abortion access.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/anti-abortion-protests-in-scotland-following-texas-playbook-as-national-plan-on-buffer-zones-needed-3656433

Scotland – Doctors call for action over abortion protests as patients face ‘deplorable intimidation and harassment’

Group of 76 clinicians urge government to introduce buffer zones following large demonstration outside Glasgow hospital

Chiara Giordano
Apr 15, 2022

Scores of doctors have called for action after a large anti-abortion protest was held near a hospital in Glasgow.

More than 100 anti-abortion activists from the 40 Days for Life campaign group gathered outside the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on Sunday.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/doctors-call-for-action-abortion-protests-b2058654.html

Scotland – Abortion protest is a sick act of blackmail

Melanie Reid
Monday March 21 2022

Three days a week, as I drive away from a medical research trial at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, I face a protest designed to distress and intimidate women. As a woman, it sickens me.

The gaggle of anti-abortionists, from the US-funded organisation 40 Days of Life, stand at the T-junction near the hospital’s maternity and gynaecology unit. They are usually men or older women and they carry passive-aggressive placards proclaiming “Women do regret abortion”, and “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abortion-protest-is-a-sick-act-of-blackmail-2vmr003tz

21.03.2022

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Scotland – Anti-abortion charity Stanton Healthcare accused of misleading women

Constance Kampfner, The Times
Saturday February 19 2022

An anti-abortion charity has been accused of masquerading as a pregnancy support centre in an attempt to pressure women into backing out of having terminations.

Stanton International, an American organisation which has been accused of peddling falsehoods about termination including the claim that it causes cancer, is due to open a branch in Edinburgh.

Continued https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-abortion-charity-stanton-healthcare-accused-of-misleading-women-9lr3mdts2

UK/Scotland – It shouldn’t take a pandemic to drag abortion rules into the 21st Century

It shouldn’t take a pandemic to drag abortion
rules into the 21st Century

By Rebecca Baird
February 13 2022

If I’m ever going to be cancelled, I know exactly what it’ll be for.

I used to be ‘pro-life’. It gives me the creeps to admit it now, but that’s
what a Catholic miseducation will do to a girl.

Continued: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/3004650/rebecca-baird-it-shouldnt-take-a-pandemic-to-drag-abortion-rules-into-the-21st-century/

Scotland – Catholic church officer on board of anti-abortion charity

Constance Kampfner
Monday November 22 2021

A senior member of the Scottish Catholic church sits on the board of an anti-abortion charity, whose Belfast branch once peddled falsehoods about terminations leading to breast cancer, it can be revealed.

Stanton Healthcare, a group based in the US, is set to open a second UK branch, in Scotland, with the backing of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh, which has promised to support its “much-needed work”.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/catholic-church-officer-on-board-of-anti-abortion-charity-z88np78tm

Why changes to abortion laws during the pandemic should remain

August 10, 2021
The Conversation
Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, Jordan A. Parsons, Thomas Hampton

As a result of the pandemic, the governments in England, Scotland and Wales temporarily relaxed abortion rules in March 2020. This means that, in every part of the UK except for Northern Ireland, people early in pregnancy can to take abortion pills at home following a telephone consultation. But with COVID restrictions largely eased across the UK, there’s uncertainty over whether this will still be allowed.

Before the pandemic, for an early medical abortion to be legal in Great Britain people had to go to a clinic where they were given two drugs – mifepristone and misoprostol. The first pill had to be taken under supervision, while misoprostol was taken later at home.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/why-changes-to-abortion-laws-during-the-pandemic-should-remain-162378

Scotland – Campaign for abortion clinic ‘buffer zones’ hits out at Facebook for blocking petition

A campaign for buffer zones outside abortion clinics has hit out at Facebook, after the social media giant blocked their petition stating it was ‘reported as abusive content.’

By Jolene Campbell
Monday, 19th July 2021

Back Off Scotland, which was started by Edinburgh university students, said it was disappointed the social media platform had suspended supporters accounts when they shared their national petition – branding the move ‘heavy-handed.’

The group has expanded the campaign for buffer zones outside clinics across Scotland, after setting up in Edinburgh in response to harassment of women seeking abortion healthcare at the Chalmers Street clinic.

Continued: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/campaign-for-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-hits-out-at-facebook-for-blocking-petition-3314028

Scotland – Telemedicine in abortion care: safe, effective, preferred

Greta Hughson
12 July 2021

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland began providing telemedicine services for medical abortion. In this interview, we spoke to Dr John Reynolds-Wright of the Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh, who worked with a team to assess outcomes and acceptability for people using these services in Edinburgh. The study worked with 663 women choosing medical abortion at home between April and July 2020.

The study started in April 2020 – how did it come about so soon after COVID restrictions began?
I usually work as a doctor in sexual and reproductive health but I’m currently doing a PhD and working as a research fellow at the Chalmers Sexual Health Centre in Edinburgh. Before COVID, we were working on a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) called the UTAH study, which stood for ‘Using Telemedicine to improve early medical Abortion at Home’. We were randomising women to have a telephone assessment prior to their abortion versus a standard face-to-face assessment.

Continued: https://www.aidsmap.com/news/jul-2021/telemedicine-abortion-care-safe-effective-preferred