In a long overdue victory for reproductive justice campaigners, safe access zones around abortion clinics – otherwise known as buffer zones – were signed into law in England and Wales in May earlier this year. But women are still getting harassed outside abortion clinics. Why?
Police are currently unable to enforce the new laws on buffer zones due to the government’s failure to implement them. Indeed, the Home Office has not provided a timeline for their implementation, The Times reports.
MSI Reproductive Choices, an abortion provider, said that anti-abortion protestors have effectively been given “the green light” to continue their demonstrations outside clinics across England and Wales. These protestors have “hung models of foetuses from trees, thrown holy water, and verbally abused staff (per The Times).”
Under the Public Order Act, it is a criminal offence to harass or intimidate anyone from accessing abortion services. The buffer zones will cover 150 metres around abortion clinics, and those who transgress these boundaries could receive up to six months in prison for a first offence and up to two years for repeated crimes.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, said, “Parliament promised women they would be able to access an abortion in peace, but months after the Public Order Act, they still haven’t implemented buffer zones.
“This makes a mockery of their commitment both to women’s safety and democracy. With protestors outside clinics today hassling women, it’s vital that they get a grip and protect their right to privacy.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office said, “It is completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated. The police and local authorities have powers to restrict harmful protests and we expect them to take action in such cases.
“We have recognised the importance of this matter and introduced safe access zones for abortion service providers in the Public Order Act 2023. Timelines for the commencement of safe access zones will be confirmed in due course.”
The battle for buffer zones has been hard-fought. When the Public Order Act passed through parliament, Louise McCudden, the UK advocacy and public affairs advisor at MSI Reproductive Choices, said it would “protect over 100,000 women a year, who will finally be able to access the healthcare to which they are legally entitled free from intimidation and harassment.”
She continued, “For decades, our teams around the country have been forced to witness the cruel tactics of anti-abortion groups who have had a free pass to harass people attending our clinics, invade their space and attempt to block their right to healthcare.
“At long last, everyone will have the right to access vital reproductive healthcare with safety, dignity, and privacy, no matter where in the country they happen to live.”
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Stella Creasy also spoke out about the importance of this ruling for all who have faced harassment.
“With evidence hundreds of thousands of women every year are hassled it’s right we have a national solution for a national problem,” she has said. “It’s for them we have acted so that they can access an abortion without having to run the gauntlet of protestors to seek healthcare.”
Creasy has also called upon ministers to “act swiftly to ensure that this change is implemented and guidance published, to ensure that every woman is able to enjoy the protections which have been won today.”
In Parliament, she stated: “It 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 – and very often these people are right up in front of people – at a point where they have made a decision.”