The Scottish Government has sparked outrage after details emerged of a £10,000 contract to try and arrange meditation between evangelical anti-abortion protesters and those "affected" by the protests.

According to the Public Contracts Scotland website, a contract was awarded to a company in Kinghorn called Centre for Good Relation for “civic mediation service to support dialogue between parties who hold vigils and protests outside of abortion clinics, and those who are affected by them.”

Details of the push for dialogue were first detailed in The Herald back in April prompting an angry response from campaigners for buffer zones. 

READ MORE: Ministers criticised as they consider mediation with anti-abortion protesters

Despite that ministers have seemingly pressed ahead with the plan. 

The call for mediation was first mentioned in the minutes of a meeting of the ministerial working group on abortion buffer zones in February.

That was despite the working group - whose members include health ministers Maree Todd, and Ben MacPherson, as well as senior police officers, and representatives from health boards and councils - saying it might be “difficult for common ground to be found”

The minutes state: “In discussion, the group noted that it could be difficult to bring the various parties together, given the protests/vigils are organised by a number of different groups and it is not always the same individuals attending. 

“The group also identified that abortion is a highly sensitive subject that provokes strong views, which might make it difficult for common ground to be found. 

“On balance, the group reflected that understanding the issues and perspectives from all sides may still be a useful outcome in and of itself.

“It was agreed that the SG would explore the option of dialogue further with members of the group and the Centre for Good Relations, potentially looking at trialling scoping in one location first.”

It was the Consultants from the Centre for Good Relations who first called for the engagement “with all interested parties."

According to the details published online, they were the only company to tender for the contract. 

Back Off Scotland, a group campaigning for buffer zones, tweeted: “WHAT??? @scotgov now spending 10k to get protestors to meet those affected by the protests. You’ve got to be joking!!

"The Women’s Health Minister @MareeToddMSP PROMISED us this would never happen. Absolutely speechless. Extremely disappointing."

Alice Murray, from the group told the Scotsman: “I am really shocked and I think this is a bizarre move from the Scottish Government.

"It's really frustrating that this wasn’t something brought up at the abortion summit when we were in a room with professionals from the likes of BPAS.

"As someone who has been through clinic harassment, I would be really interested to know who would want to sign up to this, who would want to speak to them as I know I wouldn’t.

"The safeguarding there is really dangerous. It feels like putting the onus onto the victims which I really disagree with."

Labour MSP Carol Mochan tweeted: "This is another poor decision made by the Scottish Government which fails to address the problem - I will be writing to Maree Todd to demand an explanation."

Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay is seeking to bring in buffer zones, following their introduction south of the border.

The aim is to protect the women using the facilities, and their staff, from harassment and intimidation by anti-abortion demonstrators.

Ms Mackay’s proposed Abortion Services Safe Access Zones (Scotland) Bill would allow for a 150-metre buffer around hospitals and clinics. 

Clinicians have reported being unable to work in certain areas of their clinics because of disruption caused by protests, while service users were reportedly intimidated.

The Scottish Government initially discounted legislating for a national approach, saying councils could rely on byelaws to address the issue.

But the council umbrella body Cosla obtained a legal opinion disputing that.

A key obstacle to creating buffer zones is that protesters have a right to freedom of speech, and the UK Supreme Court has ruled legitimate protests in other contexts can be disruptive. 

Since Ms Mackay started her campaign, Nicola Sturgeon has come around to the idea of legislation, and convened a summit on abortion services and buffer zones.

In June, the First Minister said she hoped that Glasgow and Edinburgh - the scene of religious ‘vigils’ against abortion and other protests - could trial buffer zones using byelaws as a short-term measure to prevent “fear, harassment or intimidation”.

She said the Scottish Government would fully support any “test council” through the “inevitable legal challenges”.

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“All women in Scotland should be able to access timely abortion care without judgment or intimidation.

"Last year, a working group was formed to explore possible ways to solve the problem of women being harassed outside abortion clinics as quickly as possible.

"A number of pieces of work have been commissioned by the working group to explore views in this area, including this work and research to develop a detailed picture of women’s experiences as a result of the protests.

“The Centre for Good Relations has met separately with various parties, including Back Off Scotland as patient representatives, to hear their views. There are no proposals whatsoever to hold meetings between patients and protestors as part of this process. 

"The initial scoping phase is complete and we are currently discussing with the working group and the Centre for Good Relations whether this work should continue - not least as representatives of some protesters appear determined to carry on with their activities without regard for their impact.

“This only one of a number of actions being taken and the Scottish Government remains committed to national legislation, which is being discussed with Gillian Mackay MSP in relation to her proposed Bill for safe access zones."