A Perthshire politician has slammed trolls who this week targeted the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
Gill Walton was the subject of online abuse after she encouraged pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Jim Fairlie has now backed the advice from the RCM and offered his support to Ms Walton.
He said: “Once again we have seen the trolls who inhabit the dark recesses of Twitter launching disgusting and frightening attacks on a woman for making a statement that they disagreed with.
“People are perfectly entitled to hold science-denying conspiracy theories.
"They are perfectly entitled to express those theories in public and, indeed, disagree with those who post opposing views. There is no call whatsoever, though, for the level and nature of the abuse that far too many people – from all walks of life - are subjected to on a variety of social media platforms.
“Anyone carrying out such attacks should be ashamed of themselves, and they should be aware that they cannot hide forever behind their keyboards and may face the full force of the law.”
On the issue of pregnant women being vaccinated, Mr Fairlie added: “To any women concerned about the vaccine and pregnancy, I would say ‘speak with the healthcare professionals already involved in your care’.
“The message from the Royal College of Midwives is clear – the evidence shows no reason to be concerned, experience with other vaccines has been positive and the dangers that contracting COVID could cause, particularly in late pregnancy, can be very severe indeed.”
