The House of Lords has voted to introduce “buffer zones” banning all behaviour construable as a protest – including public prayer – near abortion facilities.
The legislation, passed on 30 January, introduces unlimited fines for anyone found guilty of “influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services” within 150 metres of such services.
The amendment to the Public Order Bill, a reworked version of one passed by the House of Commons last year, was tabled by Conservative peer Baroness Suggs, and passed by a voice vote at report stage.
The move to ban protest outside clinics has been hailed by pro-choice groups as a vital step to protect women from harassment – and criticised by pro-life organisations as critically undermining freedom of speech and religion.
Over past months pro-life activists have been arrested for breaching buffer zones implemented by local councils, with two campaigners charged on the basis of silently prayer within exclusion zones.
In a statement opposing the buffer zones – and making reference to these cases – Bishop John Sherrington, the lead on life issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, warned that the “implications” of the bill “extend beyond the perimeters of an abortion service and raise questions about the state's powers in relation to the individual in a free society, both those with faith and those without”.
Pro-choice activists have defended the measures, however, with parliamentary supporters of the bill citing the “adverse” clinical and “psychological impact” of buffer zone protests.
The amendment is likely to make the passage of the government’s controversial Public Order bill – widely criticised by civil liberties groups – even more fraught.
As a result of the amendment, Sir Edward Leigh MP, a Conservative, has promised to vote against the bill, and stated in the Commons debate that other pro-life MPs would follow suit.
Similar legislation is expected to be introduced in Scotland and Northern Ireland in the near future.
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