“A law supposedly designed to protect choice risks doing the opposite — because women experiencing crisis pregnancies may be denied the opportunity to freely speak to people and organisations who may be able to help them”. It is with these words, contained in a statement, that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland criticised the law that could enforce 200-metre-wide “buffer zones” around abortion facilities where pro-life activists are forbidden from approaching women who want to have an abortion. The “Safe Access Zones Act 2024” was enforced last October, and the first person to be indicted for breaching the law was Rose Docherty, 76 years old. The woman, who is a member of a pro-life movement, was arrested outside the “Queen Elizabeth University Hospital” in Glasgow because she was showing a sign saying “Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, only if you want”. “I only wanted to encourage anyone who wanted to, to talk to me”, Rose Docherty then said to the British press. “And I did it peacefully, without approaching anyone”. “The Catholic Church does not condone harassment or intimidation, but Scotland already has robust laws to deal with such crimes. When parliaments introduce criminal offences where existing law is already sufficient, questions should be raised”, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference goes on writing. “We oppose this law because it is disproportionate and undemocratic”.