SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) was scheduled to hold a fringe event at the SNP party conference on Saturday in Aberdeen. Certain activists within the party complained about SPUC's inclusion and the event was cancelled. Please read there press release below:
A press release from SPUC on the recent news that their fringe event at the SNP conference was cancelled:
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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 have been 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:
This Saturday, SPUC was due to hold a fringe event on coerced abortion at the SNP’s national conference in Aberdeen. Margaret Akers of SPUC and Claire Bremner of ARCH were going to speak on the gap in the law that means there is no punishment for abusers who coerce a woman into having an abortion.
However, after complaints from Young Scots for Independence and Women for Independence, we were informed yesterday that our event had been cancelled. That’s right – a women’s group stopped an all women’s panel discussing reproductive violence against women because they don’t like the group talking about it.
This kind of censorship cannot stand. That is why we will now be holding a protest outside the SNP conference on Saturday. The SNP need to be confronted with the consequences of this. Do they actually disagree with SPUC that women should be protected from being coerced into abortion by abusers? Are there no place for pro-life voices in the party of government?
Details of protest:
Time and date: Saturday 17 October, 11.30am
Meeting place: Aloft Hotel Gough Burn Cres, Aberdeen AB21 9FY
Placards will be provided.
Contact politicians
If you are not able to come to Aberdeen, you can still make your voices heard. Please contact any SNP politicians that represent you – MSPs, MPs, councillors. The website writetothem brings up all your elected representatives when you enter your postcode. Contact any in the Scottish National Party.