Order!

Our only item of business today is a Motion Debate on SM187, in the name of the 21st Scottish Government. The question is whether this Parliament approves the Legislative Consent Motion on the Safe Access to Healthcare Act 2023

Legislative Consent Motion on the Safe Access to Healthcare Act 2023

That this Pàrlamaid–

(a) acknowledges that people seeking gender affirming care should not be harassed;

(b) acknowledges that predatory organisations attempting to coerce or mislead people seeking an abortion should be barred from doing so;

(c) therefore agrees that all the relevant provisions of the Safe Access to Healthcare Act 2023 should come into force in Scotland.

This motion was written by the Most Hon. Lady /u/model-avtron, Marchioness Hebrides LT CT PC MSP MLA MS, on behalf of the 21st Scottish Government. It was additionally co-sponsored by the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.

Opening Speech

Leas-oifigear riaghlaidh,

As I said in my speech down south, this bill has two parts.

The first ensures that people attempting to access gender affirming healthcare are not harassed. I am sure Members are intelligent enough to read the relevant bill themselves, so I won’t bore them with the details on how the bill works, rather I shall focus on the why. As I mentioned, we have seen people outside GICs such as Sandyford protesting. Of course protests should not be illegal, although these protests can often verge into hate speech, which is. But the fact of the matter is that these protests can stop trans people from accessing important gender affirming care. This bill put a stop to that in England, and I hope it’ll do the same in Scotland.

The second part outlaws crisis pregnancy centres. Let's be clear, these are not places where pregnant people should go to get advice. These are places that coerce people against getting an abortion, and quite frankly often lie. We need to put a stop to this, for the sake of pregnant people.

I commend this motion.

Debate on this Motion will end with the close of business at 10pm BST on the 17th of October.