‘Treated as a criminal’: Grandmother criminally charged for inviting people to chat outside hospital
A 75-year-old woman has been criminally charged in Glasgow for standing near a hospital with a sign inviting people to chat. She is accused of violating Scotland’s buffer zone law, which prohibits influencing behavior near abortion facilities.
Rose Docherty faces two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Scotland Act for displaying placards near Queen Elizabeth University Hospital between September 2024 and February 2025, The Sunday Times reports.
The charges relate to alleged attempts to influence individuals accessing, providing or facilitating abortion services within 200 meters of the facility.
Docherty’s placard, which read, “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want,” has become the center of what may be the first prosecution under the law in Scotland. She did not enter a plea during her appearance at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was released on bail.
ADF International, a legal group supporting her, said previous bail conditions barring her from areas beyond the buffer zone were rolled back during the Dec. 19 hearing.
“I should not be treated as a criminal for inviting people to chat with me – lending a listening ear," Docherty, who lives in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, said in a statement shared by ADF International.
“I simply stood, in love and compassion, offering consensual conversation to anyone who wanted to engage. Nobody should be criminalized just for offering a chat."
The legislation, which took effect in 2024, criminalizes harassment or any form of influencing within 200 meters of abortion-providing facilities. The law, introduced by Scottish Parliament Member Gillian Mackay, passed with near-unanimous support in Holyrood, following complaints about intimidation outside clinics. It includes provisions allowing the law to apply to private property when used for protest.
Police had offered Docherty a formal warning after her February arrest, but she declined to accept it. Her refusal opened the way for prosecution. Her arrest followed a second incident in September, when she again held the sign near an abortion clinic, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Decision Magazine.
After her September arrest, Docherty was held in custody for several hours and was not provided a chair, despite informing authorities that she had undergone a double hip replacement.
The U.S. State Department issued a public statement to The Sunday Times following the arrest, calling it “another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe.” It added, “The United States will always speak out against these violations of fundamental rights.”
In a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance cited Scotland’s buffer zone law as an example of threats to free expression in Europe.
Docherty’s defense has insisted that her actions were peaceful and consensual.
“It is not a crime to have a chat on the streets of Glasgow,” said Lois McLatchie Miller, Scottish spokesperson for ADF International. “This is not a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest — this is simply a peaceful grandmother who held a sign offering to speak to anyone who would like to engage.”
The buffer zone law allows for fines of up to £10,000, with no upper limit for more serious offenses. Though a provision in the legislation allows prosecution for visible prayer on private property if it appears to be part of a protest, lawmakers said that private prayer inside homes would not be criminalized unless intended as a public demonstration.
Mackay, who introduced the bill and now serves as co-leader of the Scottish Greens, previously claimed the law was designed to “end the intimidation and harassment we have seen of people who are accessing healthcare.”
The next hearing in Docherty’s case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
