Scottish ministers accused of failing women who cannot get later abortions

Campaigners say ‘extremely vulnerable women’ are having to travel hundreds of miles to visit English clinics

Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent
Mon 21 Apr 2025

Campaigners have warned Scottish ministers that they are failing in their legal and moral duties as growing numbers of “extremely vulnerable women” have to travel hundreds of miles south because they cannot access later-term abortions in Scotland.

Not one of Scotland’s 14 regional health boards provide abortion care after 20 weeks except in the specific cases of foetal abnormality or threat to a woman’s life. This is despite the Scottish government promising to rectify this “explicit inequality” three years ago, and abortion being legal on broad grounds until 24 weeks across the UK.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/scottish-government-failing-women-who-cant-access-later-term-abortions-campaigners-say

‘Shameful’ anti-abortion protesters slammed over month-long ‘vigils’ targeting Glasgow hospital

The 40 Days for Life campaign group confirmed that it plans to hold a series of 'prayer vigils' outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in March and April despite Scotland's newly established buffer zone laws.

By Ruth Suter, Craig Meighan, PA Scotland
24 FEB 2025

Pro-choice campaigners have hit out at a US group's "shameful" plans to stage anti-abortion protests outside a Glasgow hospital for over a month.

The Texas-founded 40 Days for Life hosts demonstrations around the world and has announced intentions to hold "prayer vigils" in clear view of the maternity unit at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

Continued: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/shameful-anti-abortion-protesters-slammed-31069308

Scotland – ‘We faced torrent of abuse after JD Vance’s abortion falsehoods’

Feb 23, 2025
By Lucy Grieve, co-founder of Back of Scotland

I co-founded the Back Off Scotland campaign as an undergraduate student in 2020 following a concerning surge in anti-abortion protests taking place outside medical facilities providing abortion care.

In the five years that have elapsed since, members of the campaign have, intermittently, been subjected to a handful of threatening communications.

These have involved threats of litigation, accusations of murder, and we have even received menacing phone calls from anti-abortion activists in the middle of the night.

Continued: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24956613.we-faced-torrent-abuse-jd-vances-abortion-falsehoods/

Scotland – ‘I felt alone and isolated travelling to England for abortion care’

Jessica says she had to make the 'traumatic' journey after missing the cut-off for treatment in Scotland.

Caitlin Hutchison
July 18, 2024

Jessica was 23 when she unexpectedly fell pregnant. She had been on contraception and showed no obvious signs, so it took until the eighteenth week of her pregnancy before she realised.

By that stage, even though she was legally entitled to an abortion, she had reached the cut-off in Scotland and her only option was to make an 800-mile round trip to a clinic in England.

Continued: https://news.stv.tv/scotland/number-of-women-travelling-from-scotland-to-england-for-abortion-care-at-highest-level-since-before-covid-pandemic

18.07.2024

Commentary

Back Off Scotland

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Jenni Minto

Lucy Grieve

National Services Scotland

Rachael Clarke

traveling to England for abortion

Scotland – Doctors warn about social media link to abortion rise

Sept 5, 2023
By Katie McEvinney, BBC Scotland news

Misinformation about contraception on social media may be contributing to Scotland's record high abortion figures, doctors have told the BBC.

The number of terminations carried out in Scotland rose by almost a fifth between 2021 and 2022. For the first time in 14 years, the number of 16 to 19-year-olds accessing abortion services also increased.

There are concerns this is being driven in part by false and misleading information on apps such as TikTok.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-66671765

05.09.2023

News

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Dr Sinead Cook

increase in abortion rates

‘I had to go to England for my abortion because Scotland told me no’

Since 2019, almost 300 women have travelled to England to receive healthcare they were unable to access in Scotland.

Hannah Brown
July 21, 2023

The number of women travelling from Scotland to England to receive later abortion care has increased by 55% in the past year, new figures show.

In 2021, the number of women travelling to England was 42 but in 2022, new figures from the British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS), seen exclusively by STV News, show this increased to 65.

Since 2019, 282 women have travelled from Scotland to England to attain the service.

Continued: https://news.stv.tv/scotland/hundreds-of-women-forced-to-travel-from-scotland-to-england-for-abortion-care

Scotland – SNP leadership candidates urged to commit to abortion clinic buffer zones

Concerns that Scotland lagging behind rest of UK as anti-abortion protests continue outside clinics

Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent
Mon 13 Mar 2023

Pro-choice campaigners are urging all Scottish National party leadership candidates to commit to accelerating the imposition of protest-free buffer zones around abortion clinics, as healthcare professionals describe the “remorseless” impact of anti-choice activity on their working lives.

Amid growing concern that Scotland is trailing behind the rest of the UK, after safe access zones passed their final parliamentary hurdle in the Commons last week, there was a protest and counter-protest outside the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow at the weekend. The clinic offers a range of services including abortion, support for sexual assault victims and transgender healthcare.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/13/snp-leadership-candidates-urged-to-commit-to-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones

Scotland – Court ruling paves way for abortion clinic buffer zones

Dec 8, 2022

A Supreme Court ruling has paved the way for a new law setting up safe access zones outside abortion clinics in Scotland. The court ruled that legislation setting up such zones in Northern Ireland does not "disproportionately interfere" with protesters' rights.

Women's Health Minister Maree Todd said Scottish legislation would now go through as soon as possible.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63893026

It isn’t just the US: abortion barriers in Britain are forcing women to travel miles for treatment

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, access to second-trimester abortions still depends on a damaging postcode lottery

Rachel Connolly
Wed 22 Jun 2022

When a draft supreme court decision was leaked in May showing that judges intended to overturn Roe v Wade, many in the UK reacted with outrage. Rightly so: such a law change would leave abortion rules up to individual states. Rights groups estimate that abortion could become illegal in about half the states if this is successful. Americans would be forced to travel to states where it was still legal, or order costly abortion medicine online, risking severe legal consequences by doing so. Overturning Roe v Wade would probably also inspire anti-choice campaign groups to pursue legal action elsewhere in the world.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/22/abortion-hierarchy-uk-lack-of-services-scotland-northern-ireland-england-terminate-pregnancy

The Scottish Government is failing women when it comes to abortion

By Lucy Grieve
Sunday, 5th June 2022

Since 2019, 170 Scottish women – including children under the age of 16 – have been sent across the border into England to have an abortion. This roughly equates to one Scottish woman every week that is having to make this journey to access healthcare that is legal in Scotland.

This is not happening because these women are located in remote areas, or because they require specialist treatment for complex medical issues, in fact it is quite the opposite. Women from cities that enjoy some of Scotland’s best healthcare infrastructure, like Glasgow, who are in their second trimester of pregnancy where abortion care has been legal for more than 50 years are being shipped as far away as Bournemouth on the south coast of England to have an abortion.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/health/the-scottish-government-is-failing-women-when-it-comes-to-abortion-lucy-grieve-3720095