Praying beside a home window could be criminal under Scottish ‘buffer zone’ law

The politician who authored the Scottish “buffer zones” law that forbids “influence” within 200 metres of an abortion facility has admitted that praying by a window in one’s own home could be an offence depending on who is passing by at the time. Speaking to the BBC’s “Scotcast” podcast this week, Gillian Mackay MSP, a The post Praying beside a home window could be criminal under Scottish ‘buffer zone’ law first appeared on Catholic Herald. The post Praying beside a home window could be criminal under Scottish ‘buffer zone’ law appeared first on Catholic Herald.

Feb 28, 2025 - 04:00

Praying beside a home window could be criminal under Scottish ‘buffer zone’ law

The politician who authored the Scottish “buffer zones” law that forbids “influence” within 200 metres of an abortion facility has admitted that praying by a window in one’s own home could be an offence depending on who is passing by at the time.

Speaking to the BBC’s “Scotcast” podcast this week, Gillian Mackay MSP, a Green Party politician, denied that prayer was being criminalised under the law and said that “we are not banning prayer”. But when asked if “performative prayer” with “clasped hands” that was visible from the window of a home (one located within the buffer zone) could potentially lead to prosecution, she responded: “That then depends on who’s passing the window…”

Commenting on the interview, Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF International, said:

“Clearly, the ‘buffer zones’ law is fundamentally flawed when it comes to undermining basic freedoms of speech, thought and religion. We all stand firmly against harassment, which has been illegal for many years – but the law goes much too far in preventing people from praying, or holding consensual conversations, in large public areas of Scotland.

“Gillian Mackay confirmed that ‘performative’ prayer could be a crime, ‘depending on who is passing by the window’. The accusation of prayer being ‘performative’ rather than genuine lies in the eye of the beholder. Who are the police to doubt the genuineness of somebody’s faith, based on where they are located, and the position of their hands?”

She added: “JD Vance was right to raise concerns – this law is an illiberal travesty.”

RELATED: Scottish Catholic group lambasts ‘world’s most extreme’ abortion ‘buffer zone’ legislation

US Vice President JD Vance recently called out the censorial nature of the law, referring to the threat of “thoughtcrime” and official letters that had been distributed in Scotland to people’s homes warning them of the laws being put in place:

“…this last October, just a few months ago, the Scottish government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called ‘safe access zones’, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law,” the US Vice President said.

“Naturally, the government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thoughtcrime. In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”

Mackay, in response, claimed that the US Vice President was spreading “shameless misinformation”, and in the same “Scotcast” interview, pointed out that “nowhere in that letter does it say private prayer”.

The letter that was distributed refers to a prohibition on activities that would “intentionally or recklessly…influence somebody’s decision to access” an abortion facility.

But it was when pressed by the interviewer as to whether visibly praying from a window could meet the threshold of “influence”, that Mackay admitted that it would depend on who was passing by the window at the point of prayer occurring.

Concerns over the implications of the law for prayer inside homes within a “buffer zone” follow the arrest of a 74-year-old woman on 19 February for holding a sign in a Glasgow “buffer zone” that read: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, if you want.”

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 made “coercive control” illegal, ADF International notes, recognising the profoundly harmful effects it can have on individuals and society. The legal organisation adds that over 6,640 charges related to this behaviour have been reported to the Crown Office between April 2019 and 2023. It is estimated that 14 per cent of women – about 1 in 7 – have undergone coercion when it comes to making a decision about abortion

Commenting on her arrest, which was videoed, Rose Docherty said: “Everyone has the right to a consensual conversation. I simply made myself available for a chat, should anybody like to approach me and speak about any matter on their mind.

“I didn’t breach the buffer zone – I didn’t harass, intimidate, or even seek to influence anyone. I simply stood there, available to speak with love and compassion.

“It isn’t right to deprive anyone of the right to take up my offer to talk. And it isn’t right to censor zones within our country from thoughts, beliefs and conversations that authorities may simply disapprove of.

“Buffer zones aren’t ‘pro-choice’ – they deprive women of the choice to have a chat outside the clinic. That isn’t right.”

Photo: John Mason (wearing tie), an MSP who opposes the ‘buffer zones’ law, joins demonstrators holding an ‘abortion clinic buffer zone’ protest outside the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland, 24 September 2024. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.)