The Supreme Court has ruled that implementing “buffer zones” around abortion clinics does not breach the human right to peaceful protest.
The decision was made with reference to Northern Ireland restrictions that make all attempts to influence those accessing an abortion facility illegal within 150 metres of the entrance, including leafleting, silent vigils and public prayer.
The court ruled that the legislation does not “disproportionately interfere” with protesters’ rights as enshrined in UK law.
The Catholic Bishops of Scotland criticised the court, however, calling the decision “very concerning” and one that “fails to protect basic freedoms of expression and freedom of assembly”.
A comparable set of changes to the law for England and Wales is currently proceeding through parliament as part of an amendment to the government’s Public Order Bill
In Scotland, Green MSP Gillian MacKay’s Abortion Services Safe Access Zones (Scotland) Bill, which would introduce similar measures north of the border, has received the support of the SNP-led administration.
The bishops of Scotland warned that the move would have “a chilling effect on freedom of speech and assembly in a country which has long valued both”
The news came as Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin attacked the UK governments decision to “fast track” the roll out of abortion services in Northern Ireland, describing it as the opposite of what a “humane and compassionate society” would do.
Speaking Friday 2 December, Archbishop Martin said: “The abortion regulations being introduced by Westminster are predicated on the assumption that the unborn child in the womb has no right to love, care and protection from society, unless the child is wanted. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“None of us acquire our humanity, or our fundamental right to existence, on the basis of whether or not we are wanted.”
The Archbishop was speaking in response to repeated efforts by Westminister to push forwards with commissioning and funding abortion services in Northern Ireland
In October of this year, the then Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris MP announced the UK government would take the unusual step of directly funding abortion services in the region.
Noting that the UK parliament decriminalised abortion in Northern Ireland in 2019, Heaton-Harris said it was “not right that three years on, women and girls in Northern Ireland are still unable to access the full range of health care to which they are lawfully entitled”.
Archbishop Martin made his statement as MPs debated the inclusion of abortion in the forthcoming Bill of Rights.
Speaking for the government Edward Argar MP, Minister in the Ministry of Justice, emphasised the present administration's commitment to ensuring “safe, regulated” abortion access but said he did not believe the Bill of Rights was the right place to propose legislation on the topic.
Catholic MP Sir Edward Leigh pointed to the record levels of abortion in the UK of 200,000 a year and asked the house to “look at how the state has failed so many women that they feel abortion is the only option available to them”.
Elsewhere in the country, a pro-life campaign in Bournemouth has launched a legal challenge against their local council after the introduction of a Public Spaces Protection Order enforcing a 150 metre “buffer zone” around a local abortion clinic. The group claims that the move infringes upon basic rights of freedom of speech: one resident living within the “buffer zone” claims it has criminalised talking about abortion in their own property.
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