AN anti-abortion group active in Scotland has withheld details about the amount of US funding it receives.
The National previously revealed that ADF International – one of several groups which has actively looked to challenge Scotland’s abortion buffer zones legislation – received £1,119,975 in 2024 from its US parent entity Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), according to Companies House.
This represented a 281% increase in just two years, as it received £398,000 in 2022.
Now, in newly published accounts, the organisation reveals that it has received £1,409,342 in total in 2025 – a hefty increase of over £150k.
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However, while the document acknowledges it received funding from ADF during the year, the exact amount hasn’t been included, unlike in previous years.
“We know that anti-choice protests have been influenced and backed by US funding, and that simply cannot be hidden from the general public,” Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay has said in response.
Founded in 1993, ADF is one of the major forces that helped push for the US Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion in the US.
President-elect Donald Trump speaking during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Tuesday (Evan Vucci/AP)
The organisation has major links to senior American politicians including Republican senator Josh Hawley, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
It has also been designated as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.
Its UK offshoot, ADF International, supports anti-abortion protests across the UK and recently lobbied against Scotland’s proposed assisted dying law and efforts to decriminalise abortion.
The funding boost comes as The Financial Times revealed earlier this year that a US "free speech" fund is looking to push Donald Trump's right-wing agenda in the UK and Europe, with Reform UK's involvement.
Sarah Rogers, a US state department official, is understood to have travelled to Europe in December and spoke with figures in Nigel Farage’s party, as well as officials from right-wing think tanks.
Reporting by the New York Times last year also revealed that the ADF organised Farage’s three-hour testimony to US Congress and brokered a secret meeting between him and top US state department officials in London.
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Mackay, who also spearheaded the buffer zones legislation, said: “Scotland is a country where bodily autonomy and choice is paramount in healthcare settings, but we cannot rest on our laurels and simply think that our hard-won rights couldn’t be erased.”
She added: “There are many far-right political movements who idolise the way things are being played out in the US, who would roll back access to abortion and fundamental human rights to the Dark Ages if we left them undefended, and it is not the progressive vision that the Scottish Greens have in mind when we look at making our country fairer and better for everyone.
Mackay went on: “We know that anti-choice protests have been influenced and backed by US funding, and that simply cannot be hidden from the general public. The world has witnessed the horrific treatment of women in the States seeking abortion care since Roe vs Wade was overturned, and we cannot ever allow our healthcare system to end up going the same way.”
An ADF International spokesman said: “ADF International is a Christian legal advocacy organisation that defends fundamental freedoms, in the UK and around the world. We are a non-partisan human rights organisation with expertise in international law.
“All of our work is privately funded, and we fully comply with all the rules set out by the various regulators of the countries in which we are based, including the UK. We have more than 750,000 supporters worldwide in more than 107 countries, including the UK.
“We are proudly pro-life and pro-free speech, as we believe both of these internationally recognised human rights flow from the inherent dignity of each human person.
“We are committed to fighting against the free speech crisis in the UK and are proud to stand alongside our clients who are victims of ‘buffer zone’ censorship. This is among the most egregious forms of censorship in Britain today. ‘Buffer zones’ have been used to censor offers of consensual conversation and silent prayers—peoples’ most intimate thoughts.
“None of our ‘buffer zone’ clients engaged in behaviour that was harassing, obstructing or intimidating and they were not protesting either. They are peaceful Christians who merely silently prayed or offered consensual conversation in public spaces, as is their lawful right in a free country.
“We are committed to standing alongside all of our ‘buffer zone’ clients in defence of their free speech rights, including Rose Docherty, a 75-year-old grandmother, who is facing criminal trial under Scotland’s censorial ‘buffer zone’ law for offering to speak with people.
“The Southern Poverty Law Centre’s ‘hate group’ allegation stems from false and debunked claims. The SPLC is a discredited and scandal-ridden group that one of its own former employees described as a ‘highly profitable scam’.
“The group has been widely discredited by journalists, charity watchdogs, and commentators as activist, partisan and unreliable. The SPLC has been sued multiple times for unjustly spreading false information about groups, in order to discredit those with whom they disagree.
“It is deeply misleading to refer to ADF International as a ‘hate group’, given this reality. Our legal advocacy benefits everyone, regardless of their beliefs.”
