Campaigners have claimed there is a groundswell of support for liberalising abortion laws across the UK in the wake of the Irish referendum result.
The weekend’s landslide victory for pro-choice campaigners has led to calls to tackle the ban on abortion in Northern Ireland and further strengthen women’s rights in Scotland as well.
Scots, Irish and Northern Irish women are forced to travel to England if they need a late-stage termination and pregnant women are still at risk of imprisonment for ending a pregnancy under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) public affairs and advocacy manager Rachael Clarke said there was now a new push to decriminalise abortion.
She added: “There is a groundswell of support everywhere in the UK right now.
“Scotland has some aspects of its provision that are great but others where there is more work to be done.
“About 200 women a year are sent down to England because they need an abortion after 18 weeks and it means women can be forced to miscarry while travelling home over long distances.
“We are seeing more and more groups supporting the decriminalisation of abortion, including the Green and Lliberal Democrat parties, Engender and Women’s Aid Scotland.”
Ms Clarke said there were also increasing calls to ensure buffer zones around abortion clinics, where women accessing abortion have been abused and intimidated.
Scottish Liberal Democrats voted in support of decriminalising abortion at the party’s spring conference after a speech by delegate Jess Insall, who called for “thoughtless and ineffective” protests outside clinics to stop.
Ms Insall said: “Capitalising on vulnerability is not fair. Of course freedom of speech is fundamental to a free society, but so is judgement-free access to medical care.”
Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson said the Repeal the Eighth campaigners had given hope to the rest of the UK.
“The Irish referendum result is a resounding call to trust women,” she said. “This change brings into even sharper relief the injustice for women in Northern Ireland, who still face risky unregulated procedures, gruelling journeys, huge bills and potential prosecution just to make their own decisions over what happens to their own bodies.
But a spokeswoman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said the Irish referendum result was a tragedy and protesters outside abortion clinics were simply exercising their right to freedom of expression.
She added: “It is a tragedy the people of Ireland have voted to repeal the eighth Amendment and stop protecting the lives of innocent, unborn babies from abortion.
“Individual groups are entitled to exercise their basic rights to freedom of expression and to gather peacefully in public spaces, even if they hold a view that some people disagree with.
“Policies which seek to silence other perspectives are a threat to peaceful protest and are fundamentally undemocratic.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We work with NHS Scotland health boards to ensure women can access services that place patient care and dignity at its heart.
“We’ve also taken action to ensure women from Northern Ireland can freely access abortion services here.”
