Sandyford: Scottish pro-life party reveals plans to ‘brick up’ abortion and transgender care clinic in Glasgow

An anti-abortion group has revealed its plans to block access to a sexual health clinic in Scotland.

Niall Fraser, a member of the Scottish Family Party, threatened on Wednesday (1 March) to “brick up” the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow during a livestream with the party’s leader Richard Lucas.

He said: “On 11 March at 11am, we are going to be protesting this horrific building. The plan is to brick it up. We have to block the entrance. We are going to impede people getting in to the building.”

In addition to the clinic’s abortion care, which has been repeatedly targeted by pro-life protesters over the past several months, Fraser also took issue with Sandyford’s transgender services. He remarked: “I won’t have Scottish kids be pumped full of hormones, confused, and ultimately abandoned after they go through this process. It’s such a sick, disturbing situation.”

Sandyford offers hormone-replacement therapy and surgery referral for trans adults, while trans youths with parental consent can receive reversible puberty blockers. Counselling and monitoring by health experts are also provided alongside these services.

The Scottish Family Party states in its core policies that it opposes both abortion and ‘transgender ideology’. Summarising the reasons for the planned attack during the livestream, Lucas suggested that Sandyford is the “full picture” of what the party is against.

He mentioned the clinic’s sexual health services, transgender care, and then concluded: “It’s an abortion clinic as well. So it really is everything under one roof.”

Lucas, a former member of UKIP, went on to say that “there are some valid forms of healthcare at Sandyford”, but insisted “an awful lot of it is not - and we are going to make our feelings known.” He later encouraged people to join in and “bring their brick”.

Meanwhile, Fraser, who described the protest as a “call to arms for the people of Glasgow” and a “symbol that we are not going to take it anymore”, claimed he was willing to receive a criminal record for the stunt. “I am willing to do time for it if the police think that bricking the building up is a step too far,” he said.

The group’s so-called “call to arms” comes as US anti-abortion group 40 Days For Life continues its 40 days of ‘vigils’ outside abortion clinics in Scotland, and as campaigners increase their calls for ‘buffer zones’ to protect service users from harassment.

MSP Gillian Mackay is currently in the process of introducing a member’s bill to the Scottish Parliament to impose these buffer zones, which, if granted, would make it illegal for pro-life activists to stage demonstrations within a 100 metre vicinity of any abortion provider.

Responding to the recent comments by the Scottish Family Party, she said: “This is a disgraceful and disturbing new low from an increasingly extreme group that masquerades as a political party. It has no place in a kind, caring, and progressive Scotland.

“They are showing a total contempt for the safety, rights, and wellbeing of service users and staff. It is intimidation and harassment, and it needs to be stopped. It also underlines exactly why we need to introduce buffer zones, to ensure that everyone can access reproductive healthcare without fear of obstruction.”

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde added: “Patients should be able to access [healthcare services] without fear of intimidation or harassment. At all times, our healthcare teams treat users with respect, compassion, and professionalism and we would expect that others will respect these values.”

The Scottish Family Party confirmed to PinkNews that the protest is against abortion, transgender care, and sexual health education, with Lucas commenting that the party wanted to “protect children, born and unborn, from harm”.