UK – Anti-abortion group renews attack on pregnant Labour candidate

Anti-abortion group renews attack on pregnant Labour candidate
Stella Creasy says constituents are being sent leaflets in a bid to sway vote

Mark Townsend
Sat 23 Nov 2019

An anti-abortion group under investigation by the police has been accused of trying to interfere in the general election by working with a religious organisation to target a prominent Labour figure.

The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) distributed fresh leaflets on Friday in an apparent attempt to turn the Muslim community in the London constituency of Walthamstow against the pro-choice Labour candidate Stella Creasy, who is standing for re-election.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/23/stella-creasy-anti-abortion-groups-launch-fresh-attack-on-pregnant-labour-mp

UK – Police investigate ‘extremist’ targeting of Stella Creasy by anti-abortion group

Police investigate ‘extremist’ targeting of Stella Creasy by anti-abortion group
Pregnant, pro-choice Labour MP subject to intense campaigning in her London constituency

Mark Townsend, Observer home affairs editor
Sun 6 Oct 2019

Scotland Yard is investigating the intimidation and harassment of Stella Creasy following the “extremist” targeting of the Labour MP by anti-abortion protesters over the past week.

Metropolitan police officers said they had taken a detailed statement from Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow in north-east London, and were examining evidence to ascertain whether the campaign against the pregnant, pro-choice politician had crossed the line.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/06/stella-creasy-anti-abortion-group-police-investigate-extremist-targeting

UK – At least eight local authorities in England are examining whether to follow Ealing’s lead

At least eight local authorities in England are examining whether to follow Ealing’s lead

Sarah Marsh
Mon 23 Apr 2018

Eight councils in England are considering setting up abortion clinic buffer zones after pro-choice groups said the number of “intimidating” protests was on the rise.

Across the country, 42 vigils and protests have taken place between 2017 and 2018, according to figures compiled by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS). They were led by a number of anti-abortion groups including the Good Counsel Network and 40 Days for Life.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/23/abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-being-considered-by-more-councils-lambert-protests

How UK anti-abortion activists use American tactics to shock and shame women

How UK anti-abortion activists use American tactics to shock and shame women
Phoebe Braithwaite
19 December 2017

50 years after the 1967 Abortion Act, the anti-abortion movement is consolidating – with transatlantic support.

Anti-abortion activists gathered outside the UK Houses of Parliament on 27 October to protest 50 years since the passing into law of the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act. Nina Naidu* was working nearby, and went to take a closer look.

Like many women in the UK, she had previous, personal experience with both abortion and virulent anti-choice demonstrators. Earlier this year, the 24-year-old decided to terminate a pregnancy, and was accosted by protestors on the way to her appointment.

Continued at source: https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/phoebe-braithwaite/uk-anti-abortion-american-tactics-shock-shame

Graphic images of abortion offend the public and do campaigners no favours

Graphic images of abortion offend the public and do campaigners no favours
Zealots' shocking pictures are crude, disturbing and morally wrong, says Fionola Meredith

October 27 2017

For years, I avoided driving my little girl home from primary school along University Street in South Belfast, where the Family Planning Association (FPA) used to have its offices. I didn't want her to see the images of aborted foetuses festooned in the trees that line the road, placed there by anti-abortion campaigners holding their regular 'prayer vigils' outside the FPA.

But these days it's increasingly hard to escape such images. Following similar stunts in the United States and Canada, anti-abortion campaigners have now hit on the idea of blowing the pictures up to a massive size and driving them around on the backs of trucks.

Continued: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/fionola-meredith/graphic-images-of-abortion-offend-the-public-and-do-campaigners-no-favours-36265045.html

UK: Charlie Gard and the pro-life lobbyists

Charlie Gard and the pro-life lobbyists

The US right has elbowed its way to a British baby’s bedside and it has a troubling agenda

Janice Turner
July 12 2017

In February the group Abort67 set up a Facebook live-stream opposite the BPAS abortion clinic in Hastings. Any woman going inside that day, past the protesters waving placards showing magnified photos of bloody foetuses, risked being exposed on social media.

At another BPAS (British Pregnancy Advisory Service) clinic, a woman was called by her violent partner who opposed the abortion. He had given both their mobile numbers to the Good Counsel Network, which regularly protested outside. When the protesters saw her going in alone, they let him know and later texted her, demanding she cancel the abortion.

Continued at source: The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/charlie-gard-and-the-pro-life-lobbyists-svsfhtvxv