A grandmother has been arrested after offering conversation near an abortion facility in Scotland. Charges have been dropped, but her arrest is a chilling insight into the dangerous results of abortion ‘buffer zone’ legislation, says Jeremiah Igunnubole
Glasgow-based faithful churchgoer Rose Docherty is someone you might expect to offer you tea, rather than trouble. Rose certainly never imagined she would be handcuffed and arrested.
What crime had this 75-year-old grandmother committed?
Standing quietly outside Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth II hospital with a sign that simply read: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.”
No shouting. No shaming. No sensational images. Just an open invitation to talk. And yet, her quiet presence fell within the so-called “buffer zone” around the hospital, where a new law prohibits harassment, intimidation or influencing decisions about abortion.
BREAKING:
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) August 14, 2025
UK authorities dropped their case against Glasgow grandmother Rose Docherty, who was arrested for peacefully holding a sign offering help to women outside an abortion facility.
Her sign read: "Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, if you want."
pic.twitter.com/rBIKyiDZfA
Despite engaging in none of these activities, Rose was treated as if she posed a danger to public safety. She was arrested and later offered a formal warning requiring her to admit wrongdoing and refrain from similar actions in future.
Criminalising kindness
The charges against Rose have now been dropped. But that’s not the end of the story. Because the real injustice isn’t just the fact of Rose’s arrest - it’s the chilling truth that our laws in Scotland are vague enough that police may criminalise kindness, silence prayer and ban gentle conversation in the very places where it might be most needed.
We all agree that harassment is wrong. Scripture itself commands us to speak “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). But buffer zones don’t just target harassment. Since they became law, they have been weaponised to shut down peaceful presence, caring offers of help and even invisible prayer.
A society that silences compassion has forgotten what true freedom is
Incredibly, one Scottish member of parliament even admitted that just praying silently by a window could be considered illegal “depending on who’s passing by”. That’s how far the net of this ill-thought-through law has been cast.
Freedom and truth
Jesus never coerced. He didn’t shout people into the kingdom of God. He sat with them (John 4), walked with them (Luke 24), listened to their stories - and offered them truth in love. His ministry model was invitation not intimidation.
Rose was following her saviour’s example.
Her quiet presence outside the hospital in Glasgow harmed no one. In fact, it might have helped someone. Anyone passing her by remained entirely free to ignore her. But in the eyes of this new law, the mere possibility of changing a mind is forbidden. Adults are treated as too fragile to choose their own conversations.
Buffer zones have been weaponised to shut down peaceful presence, caring offers of help and even invisible prayer
The irony is staggering. Scotland once birthed some of the world’s greatest champions of liberty. Now, we risk leading in the opposite direction - towards a fearful society that sees dialogue itself as deeply dangerous.
A society that silences compassion has forgotten what true freedom is. And a Church that stops speaking the truth in love has forgotten who it follows. Jesus calls us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) - visible, present, willing to engage - even when the law or the culture tries to make us hide away in fear or shame.
Now more than ever, we must stand for the freedom to converse with compassion, to pray without fear, and to offer hope to those who need it most. Not for the sake of winning an argument, but for the sake of winning hearts to the one who still meets people today.
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