A pensioner has been arrested under the SNP’s abortion buffer zones law for the second time in seven months.
Rose Docherty, aged 75, was arrested and charged for displaying a sign within 220 yards (200 meters) of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. The sign read: ‘Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.’
The grandmother was questioned by four police officers on Wednesday, searched then led into the back of a van on Wednesday.
Ms Docherty, who has had two hip replacements, claimed she was left without a chair for two hours in a police cell.
She stated: ‘Everyone has the right to participate in a willing conversation. I held my sign with kindness and understanding, inviting anyone interested to have a discussion, and I stood quietly without approaching anyone.
‘I should not be treated as a criminal for allowing people to chat to me – lending a listening ear.
‘Conversation is not forbidden on the streets of Glasgow. And yet, this is the second time I have been arrested for doing just that.’
In February, the grandmother-of-two became the first person to be arrested for ‘influencing’ women with her beliefs within an abortion buffer zone.
Ms. Docherty came into conflict with the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act 2024 by discreetly holding the ‘coercion is a crime’ sign within a designated buffer area.
The case drew international attention, and prompted the U.S. State Department to call on the SNP to protect the principle of freedom of expression.
Only 10 days ago, Ms Docherty was told by Scottish prosecutors they had dropped those charges against her.
Rose Docherty, 75, was held and charged for holding a sign within 220 yards of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow
An anti-abortion protest in March last year close to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow
But she was re-arrested and charged for the same offence on September 24.
She was held in custody then charged and released on bail, with conditions that not only prevent her from going into the buffer area but wider area.
Her legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, a faith-based legal advocacy group, called ‘disproportionate’.
Lorcan Price, a legal representative for ADF, commented: ‘It is very troubling that Scottish police resources are being used to arrest and prosecute a peaceful grandmother offering to converse with people publicly, rather than prioritizing Glasgow’s real crime issues.
‘This situation is not about harassment, intimidation, or violent demonstrations – it involves simply a grandmother holding a sign extending a conversation to those interested.
Proponents of the buffer zones say they help protect women from being intimidated while accessing healthcare facilities.
Those breaching the new laws could face an unlimited fine in the most serious cases.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance has criticised the buffer zones.
During a security conference in Munich in February, Donald Trump’s deputy remarked: ‘A few months ago, the Scottish Government started sending letters to residents in so-called safe access zones, cautioning them that even private prayer within their own homes could be seen as legal infringement.
‘The Government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime. In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.’
First Minister John Swinney said Mr Vance’s claims were ‘just wrong’ while Green MSP Gillian Mackay, who brought the Bill forward, described the Vice President’s comments as ‘nonsense’.
Ms Mackay admitted on BBC Scotland in February that the buffer zones law could criminalise someone for praying visibly from a window in their home within the zone, ‘depending on who is passing by the window’.
Last night a Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Around 1.50pm on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, we were called to a report of a small protest on Hardgate Road in Glasgow.
‘Officers attended, and a 75-year-old woman was arrested and charged in connection with a breach of the Safe Access Zone legislation. She is due to appear in court at a later date.
‘We take the health and safety of those who come into our custody seriously and ask people about vulnerabilities to provide the facilities they need.’
A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘A standard prosecution report has been received by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service from Police Scotland in relation to a 75-year-old woman and incidents said to have occurred on September 24, 2025.’
