A 75-year-old grandmother named Rose Docherty was arrested and charged under Scotland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act for quietly holding a sign near the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital that read, “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” Seeing a kindly senior citizen criminalized for offering a listening ear is exactly the kind of overreach that ought to alarm every freedom-loving American.
The law creates a 200‑metre “safe access” buffer around hospitals and abortion facilities and prohibits harassment, intimidation and any attempt to influence someone seeking services — language supporters say protects patients but critics rightly warn is vague enough to sweep up peaceful speech. This is how good intentions on paper become blunt instruments against ordinary citizens on the pavement.
According to reports, Docherty stood peacefully, did not approach anyone, and simply offered conversation to those who wanted it; she was detained on February 19, 2025 and has since faced renewed police action, including a second arrest later in the year. The footage and the accounts make it plain she was not intimidating anyone — yet she was treated like a criminal.
In a confusing tug-of-war, prosecutors at one point said no further action would be taken in her case, only to leave the door open for future proceedings while police continued enforcement that targets ordinary people. That kind of legal whiplash sends the message that the state can decide arbitrarily when speech is permitted and when it is punished.
Conservative voices and free‑speech advocates have rightly cried foul, and groups like Alliance Defending Freedom stepped in to provide legal support — because when a grandmother can be hauled off for holding a sign, every citizen’s liberties are on the chopping block. Even transatlantic commentators have noticed the chilling effect of this law, and patriotic Americans should take note.
Make no mistake: this isn’t about protecting women from harassment so much as it is about empowering a broad, unchecked power to silence dissent on public streets. The slippery slope is real — let the government criminalize quiet offers of conversation today and they will criminalize prayer, petitioning, and neighborly counsel tomorrow. No free society survives when civility is outlawed in the name of convenience.
Hardworking Americans and defenders of liberty should stand with Rose Docherty and anyone else targeted for peaceful expression. Support for her legal defense and a loud insistence that governments respect free speech are the only acceptable answers when authorities try to turn compassion into a crime.
