(Image: Jane Barlow)
The leader of Scotland's Catholic bishops has criticised the SNP for cancelling a fringe event by a controversial anti-abortion group.
Bishop John Keenan, the Bishop of Paisley and President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, spoke out after the party revoked permission for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) to hold an event at its conference in Aberdeen on Saturday.
The event was due to examine coerced abortion. SPUC said there was a "critical gap" in Scotland's legal framework, with "no specific criminal offence for men who coerce women into having abortions".
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The party said its initial decision to allow the event was "wrong" because it did not ensure all members could feel comfortable at conference.
The cancellation followed a campaign by Women for Independence (WFI), which said the event was "being presented as raising awareness on 'the reality of coerced abortion'" but was in fact "a progressive veil for their outdated and bigoted beliefs".
More than 250 people signed a petition calling for the event to be removed, with MSPs Emma Roddick and Karen Adam backing the calls.
Bishop Keenan told The Herald that freedom of speech had "little meaning if it extends only to those with whom we agree".
He said: "Alongside other organisations, the pro-life movement is finding its events cancelled on account of those who disagree with them and it raises important questions about our willingness to listen.
"Whatever a person's views on the issues involved, we should have the confidence to engage respectfully with those who think differently.
"Listening does not mean abandoning our convictions. It requires the recognition that others may have something of value to contribute. Engaging with different viewpoints allows us to test and strengthen our own beliefs. That is where genuine tolerance begins."
(Image: Bishops’ Conference of Scotland)
Bishop Keenan added: "If we allow the loudest voices to decide which opinions may be heard, we risk creating a public square where people are afraid to speak honestly, and where important questions go unexamined simply because they make some uncomfortable."
An SNP spokesperson said: "Following concerns being raised by SNP members we took the decision to revoke permission for SPUC to hold a fringe event at our conference."
SPUC, which describes itself as the UK's largest anti-abortion organisation, has said it will seek legal advice. It claims the SNP's decision breaches the Equality Act 2010.
The group said it had been in contact with conference organisers, including SNP chief executive Callum McCaig, since August, and that no concerns were raised at any point.
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Founded in 1967, SPUC has long long drawn controversy for its hardline campaigning.
Beyond calling for abortion to be recriminalised, the group opposes emergency contraception and certain forms of birth control, sex education in schools, and the introduction of buffer zones around abortion clinics.
Critics, including women’s rights organisations and medical bodies, have repeatedly accused the group of spreading misleading medical claims about reproductive health and staging intimidating demonstrations outside clinics.