Image: Wikimedia Commons
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children have been in contact with SNP Conference organisers, including the Party’s Chief Executive, since August and there was at no point any issue of concern raised.
It is clear the SNP are determined to make many of their members and potential voters very uncomfortable, particularly those who believe in freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of conscience.
Our fringe event was on the subject of coerced abortion as we believe that no woman in Scotland should be coerced or pressured into having an abortion. The First Minister must now categorically state his views on this important issue: does he agree with SPUC that Scottish women should be legally protected from coerced abortion, if so why has he allowed a panel of expert women to be cancelled from his conference? Or is it the position of the SNP that women should not have specific coerced abortion legal protections?
Preventing debate and discussion and cancelling valid viewpoints are behaviours associated with totalitarian regimes around the world, the rule of the mob has replaced the rule of law within the SNP.
SPUC will now seek legal advice as we believe the decision of the SNP to cancel our fringe event is a breach of the Equality Act.
Notes
A) SPUC booked a fringe event at the SNP Conference back in August and it was set to be held on Saturday afternoon at the TECA conference centre in Aberdeen
B) The fringe title was: No Law to Protect Her: The Reality of Coerced Abortion
C) Fringe description: While Scotland rightly prioritises tackling domestic abuse, a critical gap remains in our legal framework: there is no specific criminal offence for men who coerce women into having abortions. This devastating form of reproductive abuse strips women of their bodily autonomy, yet perpetrators routinely exploit this loophole without legal consequence. Join SPUC and a panel of experts to explore the reality of partner-forced abortion in Scotland. We will discuss how updating Scots law can protect vulnerable women, close this dangerous legislative gap, and ensure that a woman’s right to choose to keep her baby is robustly defended.
D) The SNP, including its Chief Executive haven aware of the topic of the fringe since confirming the booking
E) The BBC Polling showed that 15% of women who have an abortion felt coerced or pressured into doing so: spuc.org.uk/coercion
