Pro-choice charities have backed legislation to protect those accessing abortion clinics from harassment through the introduction of abortion safe access zones.
Yesterday, Wednesday September 18, the Home Office passed legislation which will roll out buffer or safe-access zones around abortion clinics in England and Wales.
The legislation will prohibit pro-life protesters from being within a 150-metre vicinity of abortion clinics.
The law aims to protect abortion patients from harassment from protestors, however, it raises concerns about a protest group’s ability to speak freely.
It states that any protester who breaks the law will face an unlimited fine.
Abortion non-governmental organisations (NGOs) support the legislation, explaining that it ensures patient safety.
The pro-choice NGO, Abortion Rights, defends women’s rights to legal, safe abortions and challenges any attempt to lower the abortion time limit.
Chair of Abortion Rights Kerry Abel said: “Patients weren’t getting protected trying to access their legal right to healthcare.
“We had reports of people filming them and grabbing their sleeve saying they’ll make a good mother.”
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is an independent charity that attends to more than 100,000 individuals a year who seek reproductive healthcare services including screening for sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, abortion care, and counselling.
BPAS has supported this legislation through the Back Off campaign, which aims to stop protestors from harassing patients.
Rachael Clarke, BPAS Chief of Staff stated: “This law is something we’ve spearheaded,” and added that protesters include people who dress as monks or nuns, coming from local churches.
BPAS explained pro-life protests are common in their London clinics, including in Finsbury Park, Camden, Stratford, and Buckhurst Hill.
BPAS Chief Executive, Heidi Stewart, said in a statement: “For years our staff and the women we care for have endured anti-abortion fanatics standing outside clinics for hours on end […] stopping them outside and telling them that abortion is murder, […] and displaying graphic and distressing posters.”
She added: “We are hopeful that the Home Office has recognised our concerns about implementation and taken into account the views of abortion providers, violence against women and girls groups, and leading medical bodies reminding them that the law is designed to address the harm caused by so-called silent prayer and ‘consensual communication’.”
Right to Life UK, a pro-life organisation, said in a statement: “Now, hundreds of women who are helped outside abortion clinics by pro-life volunteers, who provide them with practical support and make it clear to them that they have another option other than going through with the abortion, may be denied such help.”
The safe zones will be next to a public road or highway, ensuring open space for public accessibility, or within the close perimeter of an abortion clinic.
The new legislation applies to all clinics and private hospitals that are listed under the Abortion Act 1967 as well as NHS hospitals that carried out abortions in recent calendar years.
Featured image credit: British Pregnancy Advisory Service
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