Prayer by a window in one’s own home could be an offence according to the politician who authored the Scottish “buffer zones” law which forbids “influence” within 200m of an abortion facility.

Speaking to BBC’s “Scotcast” podcast this week, the Green Party Gillian Mackay MSP repeatedly denied that prayer was being criminalised under the law. But when asked if “performative prayer” with “clasped hands”, visible from a window, could be prosecuted, she responded: “well, that depends on who’s passing by the window…”

US Vice President JD Vance recently highlighted the censorious nature of the law, referring to letters that had been sent to people’s homes which he alleged warned that “even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law”.

Mackay claimed that the Vice President was spreading “shameless misinformation”, and in the same Scotcast interview, pointed out that “nowhere in that letter does it say private prayer.”

The letter refers to a prohibition on activities that would “intentionally or recklessly…influence somebody’s decision to access” an abortion facility.

When pressed as to whether visibly praying from a window could meet the threshold of “influence”, Mackay admitted that it would depend on who saw it.