Image: Shutterstock – Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh
As First Minister John Swinney prepares to outline his Programme for Government when the Scottish Parliament returns from recess, SPUC have outlined five interventions they urge the Scottish Government to make to support women and protect the most vulnerable in society.
They include specific legislation to criminalize coercion, making it an offence to coerce a woman into having an abortion, ending remote telemedicine provisions, and opposing proposed changes to existing abortion laws which include allowing abortion up until birth. SPUC also calls for substantial new funding into Scotland’s palliative care sector and proposes a “world leading” expansion to the Scottish Child Payment to low-income pregnant women from the 24th week of pregnancy.
Commenting SPUC Executive Director Michael Robinson said:
“We urge Holyrood to reject expansions of the abortion law, invest heavily in compassionate palliative care, and implement these safeguards to defend human dignity. We are very hopeful that an overwhelming consensus can be reached across the Scottish Parliament in regard to making it a specific standalone criminal offence in Scotland to coerce a woman into having an abortion. Reproductive coercion occurs predominantly behind closed doors within abusive relationships, meaning the true scale is highly underreported. Last year over 11,000 abortions were carried out at home using pills by post without any medical supervision, this leaves the door wide open to abusive partners coercing women into having an abortion they do not want.”
Mr Robinson added:
“Other proposals to expand the Scottish Child Payment to pregnant mothers would be world leading in addressing the impacts of poverty whilst a child is still in the womb. We believe such a measure is very much in line with the First Minister’s commitment to tackle poverty within this parliamentary session.”
