Parliament has voted to introduce “buffer zones” banning all behaviour that can be regarded as protesting near abortion facilities.
The new legislation threatens jail time for those who protest, advise or “otherwise expresses opinion” people on the issue of abortion within 150 metres of any abortion facility, any institution containing abortion facilities, and any space adjoining or visible from “access points” to the same.
The new measures, tabled as an amendment to the government’s public order bill by Labour MP Stella Creasy, passed by 297 votes to 110. The amendment bars “influencing, impeding or threatening, intimidating or harassing, advising or persuading, using graphic, physical, verbal or written means to inform attendees about abortion services”.
Those who break the new rules will be liable for up to a year’s imprisonment for the first offence and two years for subsequent offences, as well as an unlimited fine.
The measures have been welcomed by pro-choice activists and heavily criticised by pro-life counterparts.
They are are likely to make future votes on the controversial parent bill, described by civil liberties group Justice as “comparable to Russia and Belarus”, even more fraught.
Other laws included in the Bill give police the right, without trial, to ban UK citizens from protesting, from entering certain geographic areas and from meeting particular people for periods up of to two years, with those who break the rules liable for six months imprisonent.
As a result of the amendment, Edward Leigh MP has promised to vote against the bill, and stated in the debate that other pro-life MPs would follow suit.
Pro-life organisations decried the decision as an attack on the right to protest, on the welfare of those seeking abortions under coercion and on the wellbeing of the unborn child.
Catherine Robinson of Right To Life said: “This amendment means that the vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics will be removed for women and many more lives will likely be lost to abortion”.
Speaking in the debate, Fiona Bruce MP stated that the law contained “threats to freedom of thought, conscience, speech, belief and assembly,” singling out the bills criminalisation of “influencing” for particular criticism.
Pro-life campaigners point to occasions where people entering abortion facilities changed their mind on discovering support was available, such as the case of Alina Dulgheriu, the leader of the “Be Here For Me” campaign. Pro-choice campaigners, however, have pointed to what they term as “harassment” outside clinics, and criticised protestors for “targeting” those seeking abortions.
Stella Creasy, a prominent campaigner on pro-choice issues, said in the debate on the amendment that the change “does not stop free speech on abortion. It does not stop people protesting…It simply says you shouldn't have the right to do this in the face of somebody”.
The law change, which is expected to be passed along with the rest of the Bill later this year, follows a decision by Bournemouth council to institute buffer zones banning the sign of the cross within 200 metres of abortion clinics.
A similar law is likely to pass in Scotland sometime in the near future. Elsewhere, pro-life campaigners are preparing to mark the 55th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion act, including a candlelight vigil in Glasgow.
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