On a damp, gloomy Saturday morn­ing in the west London suburb of Ealing, six pro-life campaigners are standing under a tree singing “Ave Maria”. Directly facing them in front of an abortion clinic is a line of campaigners, wearing bright pink tabards, from a local pro-choice group, Sister Supporter.

Sister Supporter members place themselves across the clinic entrance, and try to shield the clinic’s clients’ view of the prayer vigil and of a sequence of pictures of the developing foetus that the pro-lifers have placed on the ground. Two more pro-lifers known as “pavement counsellors” hover close to the clinic’s entrance, attempting to hand out leaflets and rosaries to the women arriving for appointments.