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'Back Off Scotland' by Alice Murray & Lucy Grieve PRESALE!

£12.99

Back Off Scotland lifts the curtain on the award-winning grassroots campaign that transformed abortion access in Scotland. Co-founded in 2020 by university students Lucy Grieve and Alice Murray, the campaign began with a determination to end the intimidation and harassment faced by people accessing and providing abortion care at their local sexual health clinic – and grew into a movement that helped secure safe access zones around abortion services across the whole of Scotland.

Drawing on hundreds of testimonies collected by the campaign, this powerful account centres the voices of women who encountered anti-abortion activists outside clinics, while taking readers behind the scenes of the years-long fight for legislative change. From the campaign’s beginnings and the obstacles faced along the way to the moment Scotland finally introduced nationwide protections, it is an extraordinary story of persistence, community and grassroots activism.

But the fight is not over. Looking back at the history of abortion rights in Scotland and forward to the reforms still needed, Back Off Scotland asks what meaningful access to abortion care really looks like – and what must happen next.

Intimate, urgent and ultimately hopeful, Back Off Scotland is the story of an underdog campaign that proved ordinary people can create extraordinary change

Back Off Scotland lifts the curtain on the award-winning grassroots campaign that transformed abortion access in Scotland. Co-founded in 2020 by university students Lucy Grieve and Alice Murray, the campaign began with a determination to end the intimidation and harassment faced by people accessing and providing abortion care at their local sexual health clinic – and grew into a movement that helped secure safe access zones around abortion services across the whole of Scotland.

Drawing on hundreds of testimonies collected by the campaign, this powerful account centres the voices of women who encountered anti-abortion activists outside clinics, while taking readers behind the scenes of the years-long fight for legislative change. From the campaign’s beginnings and the obstacles faced along the way to the moment Scotland finally introduced nationwide protections, it is an extraordinary story of persistence, community and grassroots activism.

But the fight is not over. Looking back at the history of abortion rights in Scotland and forward to the reforms still needed, Back Off Scotland asks what meaningful access to abortion care really looks like – and what must happen next.

Intimate, urgent and ultimately hopeful, Back Off Scotland is the story of an underdog campaign that proved ordinary people can create extraordinary change

About the Authors, Alice Murray & Lucy Grieve

We formed Back Off Scotland in 2020 to campaign for the Scottish Government to introduce 150 metre 'buffer zones' (protest-free areas) around clinics that provide abortion services across Scotland.

For many years, patients seeking abortion services across Scotland have faced intimidation and harassment from protesters when accessing sexual and reproductive health services.​

The right to privacy and right to access legal, essential medical services should be protected, not threatened by anti-choice activity. New legislation is needed urgently to keep people safe from protestors. We believe that the only way to do this is through national legislation, and not patchwork bans like the Scottish Government deem appropriate.

Laws already in place are not enough. The police do not have the powers to prevent this harassment. Neither do local councils. With the creation of 150m buffer zones, people will be safer when seeking medical care.

This is not about preventing freedom of speech or silencing either side of a debate. It's about ensuring people’s right to seek medical care, free from intimidation. It's about keeping medical matters of an individual between them and their medical professional.

Note for readers outside of the uk

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For that reason, we recommend ordering your print copy of Back Off Scotland through your country’s Amazon listing, where you can access Amazon Prime delivery. Or, visit your local bookshop and ask them about stocking Back Off Scotland! You can also order the eBook directly through Arkbound, which (of course) has no postage. Thank you for visiting the Arkbound bookshop, and please continue supporting small presses by ordering directly whenever you can! Any questions, please email hello@arkbound.com.