Tuesday, October 18, 2022

UK
‘Huge victory for reproductive rights’: MPs approve ‘buffer zones’ outside abortion clinics

Maya Oppenheim
Tue, October 18, 2022 

MPs in the Commons voted 297 to 110 in support of an amendment to the Public Order Bill which provides so-called buffer zones
 

MPs have voted in favour of nationwide “buffer zones” outside abortion clinics in England and Wales in a major win for abortion providers.

A “buffer zone” stops anti-abortion protesters or any other types of demonstrators standing outside the clinic or hospital or in the near vicinity.

MPs in the Commons voted 297 to 110 in support of an amendment to the Public Order Bill, which legislates for buffer zones. MPs were given a free vote on the issue due to it being a matter of conscience.

Clare Murphy, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK’s leading abortion provider, said it was “delighted” politicians had voted to “protect women, protect healthcare staff, and establish buffer zones”.

BPAS has campaigned “tirelessly” for nearly 10 years to eradicate “anti-abortion clinic harassment”, she added.

These groups attempt to deter or prevent women from accessing abortion care by displaying graphic images of foetuses, calling women ‘murderers’, and hanging baby clothing around clinic entrances, causing women significant distress.
Clare Murphy

Ms Murphy said: “Every year, around 100,000 women are treated by a clinic or hospital for an abortion that is targeted by anti-abortion protests.

“These groups attempt to deter or prevent women from accessing abortion care by displaying graphic images of foetuses, calling women ‘murderers’, and hanging baby clothing around clinic entrances, causing women significant distress.

“Today’s vote will bring an end to this activity. This was truly a cross-party amendment, with support from across the house.”

The new measure implements exclusion areas around abortion clinics and hospitals – making it an offence to impede or harass women using the services or staff delivering them.

Offenders could be hit with up to six months in prison for a first offence or as long as two years if they perpetrate additional crimes, with the “buffer zone” covering 150 metres from an abortion clinic.

Louise McCudden, of MSI Reproductive Choices’ UK, a leading abortion provider, said the vote constituted “a huge victory for reproductive rights”.

Women will “finally be able to access the healthcare to which they are legally entitled free from intimidation and harassment”, she said.

Ms McCudden added: “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.”

She noted the “landmark decision” means “at long last”, all will “have the right to access vital reproductive healthcare with safety, dignity, and privacy, no matter where in the country they happen to live”.

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow and outspoken campaigner for abortion rights, said: “With evidence hundreds of thousands of women every year are hassled it’s right we have a national solution for a national problem.

“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.

“Ministers need 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.”

Local councils were already able to introduce “buffer zones” under legislation rolled out in 2014 – with Ealing Council in west London introducing the UK’s first one around an abortion clinic in 2018.

Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the move would help to remove the stigma, guilt and shame “that anti-choice organisations try to impose on women accessing this essential health service”.


Women's Rights Campaigners Celebrate As MPs Back Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones

MPs vote in favour or proposals that would make it an offence to target women who are seeking a termination or providing the medical service.

Alexandra Rogers
18/10/2022

Labour MP Stella Creasy said the vote on Tuesday was a "victory"
 for campaigners "who have fought for years for these vital protections".
OLLIE MILLINGTON VIA GETTY IMAGES

Campaigners have hailed a move that could see anti-harassment buffer zones created around abortion clinics in England and Wales.

MPs voted in favour of an amendment to the government’s Public Order Bill that would make it a criminal offence for anti-abortion campaigners to interfere, intimidate or harass women who are seeking a termination or providing the medical service

The proposals, which were pushed by a cross-party group of MPs, passed by 297 votes to 110 — a majority of 187.

In a lengthy parliamentary debate, a number of MPs spoke in support of the 150-metre buffer zones while other raised concerns that they would hinder the right to free speech.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who proposed the amendment, said women “in their “droves are asking for this protection” and that there needed to be an end to the “postcode lottery of protection”.

Addressing MPs who opposed the amendment on free speech grounds, Creasy said: “New clause 11 does not stop free speech on abortion, it does not stop people protesting.

“As somebody who has been regularly subjected to protests, it’d do nothing to stop the protests that I have experienced from many of the people who are involved in this.

“It simply says that you shouldn’t have a right to do that in the face of somebody — and very often these people are right up in front of people — at a point when they have made a decision.”

Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the women and equalities committee, also backed the proposals, arguing that “progress has been too slow” in protecting women from street harassment.

She was supported by former justice minister Victoria Atkins, who said she agreed with the amendment.

“These are fundamental healthcare services that we provide rightly, lawfully, in the 21st century. So we must surely enable women to get the services as they need them, when they need them, so that they get the right help and advice that they need.”

The debate comes after warnings from campaigners that women are being targeted by anti-abortion protestors and bombarded with distressing leaflets and materials.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which welcomed the amendment’s passing, said there had been reports of leaflets being handed to women telling them that “rape is easier to get over than abortion”.

It also raised concerns that leaflets advertising so-called abortion reversal pills had been given to women despite the fact that there is “no reputable evidence” that the progesterone in the pills can “reverse” an abortion.

But Conservative MP Fiona Bruce said she believed exclusion zones had “grave implications” for “freedom of thought, conscience, speech, belief and assembly”.

She acknowledged harassment and intimidation around abortion clinics had to be “addressed”, but said there were already existing laws and “there have been relatively few if any reports of this”.

The DUP’s Carla Lockhart agreed, arguing that the amendment was “simply unnecessary” and that demonstrators offered women “alternatives” to abortion.

The Public Order Bill still has to undergo scrutiny in the House of Lords before it becomes law.

Speaking after the amendment passed, Creasy said: “Today’s vote is a victory for campaigners like Sister Supporter, women and MPs across parliament, especially Rupa Huq MP, who have fought for years for these vital protections.

“With evidence hundreds of thousands of women every year are hassled it’s right we have a national solution for a national problem.

“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.

“Ministers need 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.”

Last week it was reported that a buffer zone was being placed around a clinic in Dorset to deter anti-abortion campaigners harassing service users and staff.

Breaching the buffer zone could result in a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a conviction at a magistrates court, the Guardian reported.



UK Tories Cave to Allow Free Vote on Abortion Clinic Protests



Kitty Donaldson
Tue, October 18, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Liz Truss’s government caved in to demands from MPs in her own Conservative Party to allow for a free vote on buffer zones to exclude protests around abortion clinics, a sign her party managers are keen to avoid clashes with mutinous backbenchers.

The House of Commons is set to vote on Tuesday on a cross-party amendment to the government’s Public Order Bill that would make it a criminal offense to harass, obstruct or interfere with any woman or member of staff arriving at an abortion clinic. Protesters found guilty of breaching the 150-meter (492-foot) zone would face up to six months in jail.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman had asked Conservative MPs to block the protective ring around abortion clinics, according to an MP familiar with the government plans. But following pressure from backbench Members of Parliament, Tories will now be allowed to vote with their conscience, they said. Home Office minister Jeremy Quin confirmed the climbdown. The opposition Labour Party supports the zones.

The reversal is a fresh sign of how weak Truss’s administration is, despite enjoying a majority in Parliament of about 70 seats. Party managers are trying to avoid exposing the levels of division within the party as the premier fights for her political future following the dismantling over the past week of her entire economic strategy. Some of the pressure had come from the One Nation Caucus, which Truss addressed Monday night to try to shore up support.

A spokesperson for Braverman did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A Home Office spokesman declined to comment on the Conservative Party’s internal management.

The amendment is being debated because protesters have tried to discourage women from seeking abortions by displaying images of dismembered fetuses, filming women and staff members, sprinkling holy water, signing hymns and reciting prayers. Critics of the proposal argue the zones interfere with the right to free speech.

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