Protect our sisters and daughters

Yousaf vows to speed up buffer zones outside abortion clinics after plea from angry medic to stop women being bullied

- LYNN LOVE

HUMZA Yousaf has vowed the Scottish Government will do everything it can to implement safe access zones outside hospitals after a furious Glasgow doctor made a direct plea following antiabortion protests.

About 100 members of religious group 40 Days for Life gathered at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for their final vigil on Sunday after almost six weeks of demonstrations.

Dr Greg Irwin, a consultant at Glasgow Children's Hospital, called on the new First Minister to swiftly push through legislation to create 150-metre "buffer zones" in a bid to stop campaigners from targeting medical facilities across Scotland. In a video message to Yousaf, Dr Irwin said: "First of all, congratulations on your new job, I hope very much that you're going to push through the buffer zones Bill as soon as possible because as you can see we've got well over 100 demonstrators outside my hospital right now.

"These people are here to bully women coming into the hospital and seeking abortion healthcare. That's completely out of order."

The medic also stated that Scotland needed to "catch up with the rest of the UK" on banning protests outside abortion clinics.

In December, the UK Supreme Court ruled in favour of a law making it illegal for anti-abortion protestors to stage demonstrations within 100m of abortion clinics in Northern Ireland.