UK – Harassment, Tears & Distress: Inside The Battle For Bournemouth’s Abortion Clinic

Harassment, Tears & Distress: Inside The Battle For Bournemouth’s Abortion Clinic

Vicky Spratt, Poppy Thorpe
Last Updated 27 October 2019
Photographed by Poppy Thorpe.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) abortion clinic in Bournemouth is discreet. Set back on a quiet, leafy residential street sandwiched between a busy main road and a primary school, it’s flanked by two up, two down houses. Unless you had a reason to visit you wouldn’t necessarily know it was here.

But as I approach something immediately seems off. There are three women huddled together under a footbridge, sheltering from the rain and staring at the clinic’s front door. On a dull, grey October day, their presence is eerie. As I near them, I realise that they are each holding rosaries and praying, the beads moving steadily through their fingers.

continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019/10/8619550/buffer-zones-abortion-clinics-bournemouth

UK – How Our Government Has Betrayed Women Seeking Abortions

How Our Government Has Betrayed Women Seeking Abortions

Vicky Spratt
8 October 2019

All over England and Wales, abortion clinics are being targeted by anti-choice, anti-abortion and, ultimately, anti-women protestors. It often goes unreported and the scenes witnessed by clinic staff, pro-choice activists and service users alike are fraught.

In 2018, Ealing council became the first to implement a no-protest 'buffer zone' around the Marie Stopes West London clinic. That buffer zone prevents anti-abortion protestors from coming within 100 metres of the clinic. The move was hailed as a huge and hopeful step forward for the protection of women seeking abortion services against a backdrop of abuse.

Continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019/10/8540490/abortion-buffer-zones-uk-review

UK – Stella Creasy Hits Out At ‘Vile’ Anti-Abortion Billboards In Walthamstow

Stella Creasy Hits Out At 'Vile' Anti-Abortion Billboards In Walthamstow
The Labour MP, who is pregnant, has become the target of radical campaigners who posted a graphic billboard in her constituency.

30/09/2019
By Sarah Turnnidge

Labour MP Stella Creasy has condemned “vile” anti-abortion campaigners after they posted graphic advertisements featuring an unborn foetus around her constituency, including on a billboard.

Creasy, who is pregnant, said she has been subjected to a campaign of “harassment” by activists from the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK (CBR UK), which included a protest at the weekend and adverts being posted on a billboard, bus stops, and a phone box around Walthamstow.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/stella-creasy-abortion-billboard_uk_5d91eface4b0e9e760500216

‘Americanized’ anti-abortion protests are on the rise in the UK. But a fight back has begun

'Americanized' anti-abortion protests are on the rise in the UK. But a fight back has begun

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN
Tue July 9, 2019

London (CNN) Monika Neall was standing outside an abortion clinic in Manchester when she saw a woman in her mid-20s dart out the doors. The woman moved towards a parked car, then suddenly froze.

On the ground nearby lay plastic fetus models, candles and images of mothers gazing adoringly at babies. Panicking, she caught Neall's eye. "That's my car," she said, her voice starting to crack.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/09/europe/anti-abortion-manchester-protests-uk-gbr-intl/index.html

Anti-abortion activists harassing women at UK clinics during Lent

Anti-abortion activists harassing women at UK clinics during Lent
Clinic staff say protesters are calling women ‘murderers’ and giving out misleading leaflets

Simon Murphy
Mon 8 Apr 2019

Anti-abortion protesters are harassing vulnerable women at UK clinics as they ramp up demonstrations for Lent and are giving out leaflets suggesting that having a termination is harder to deal with than being raped, it has been claimed.

Hardline religious activists, some of whom are part of a so-called “40 Days for Life” campaign, have been targeting women in increasing numbers at 10 clinics across the country in the run-up to Easter, the Guardian has been told.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/08/anti-abortion-activists-harassing-women-at-uk-clinics-during-lent

Ireland – Explainer: What could Ireland’s abortion exclusion zones look like?

Explainer: What could Ireland's abortion exclusion zones look like?
The government aims to have draft legislation in place by the summer.

Feb 23, 2019

FOLLOWING A SERIES of anti-abortion protests since Ireland’s termination of pregnancy legislation came into effect on 1 January, the issue of exclusion zones around clinics and GP practices has become a pressing issue.

On 3 January, two days after abortion services became legal in the state, a group of pro-life protesters picketed a GP practice in Galway.

Continued: https://www.thejournal.ie/explainer-what-could-irelands-abortion-exclusion-zones-look-like-4501125-Feb2019/

UK – The government is wrong to dismiss abortion clinic buffer zones

The government is wrong to dismiss abortion clinic buffer zones
Protests outside abortion clinics are a form of harassment which undermine the free choices of women

By Sophie Kilminster
September 22, 2018

Last week, Home Secretary Sajid Javid rejected calls for buffer zones outside abortion clinics by saying that protest-free areas around clinics “would not be a proportionate response” to the harassment from protestors. Now perhaps it’s the English student in me, but the suggestion of a “proportionate response” seems to imply that the Home Secretary feels we should wait for a ‘proportionate’ number of women to be harassed before any action is taken to stop this harassment.

Abortion is a contentious issue, but I believe wrongly so; abortion should be personal and the business of only the woman who needs it, like any medical procedure. Protestors have attempted to undermine women’s choices through tactics such as physically blocking the patient’s path, assault and displaying distressing images.

Continued: http://cherwell.org/2018/09/22/the-government-is-wrong-to-dismiss-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones/

UK – Calls for abortion clinic buffer zones rejected

Calls for abortion clinic buffer zones rejected

13 September 2018

Calls for buffer zones to be introduced outside abortion clinics to stop patients being harassed have been rejected by Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

He said such protest-free areas around clinics in England and Wales "would not be a proportionate response".

A Home Office review found cases of harassment and damaging behaviour but they were "not the norm", he added.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45509202

Campaigners await UK decision on abortion clinic buffer zones

Campaigners await UK decision on abortion clinic buffer zones
Pro-choice activists say they expect announcement from Home Office within weeks

Caroline Davies
Mon 13 Aug 2018

Campaigners calling for buffer zones to prevent harassment and abuse of women accessing abortion centres are expecting a Home Office announcement within weeks.

The Labour MP Rupa Huq, who leads a cross-party campaign calling for national legislation following the model of the UK’s first abortion clinic safe zone in Ealing, west London, said the home secretary had pledged an announcement in September.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/13/abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-campaigners-await-uk-decision

Abortion campaigners target Sajid Javid over Northern Ireland

Abortion campaigners target Sajid Javid over Northern Ireland
Pro-choice MPs seek to put down amendment to grant right to access terminations

Rajeev Syal
Mon 11 Jun 2018

Sajid Javid will come under pressure from a crossbench group of MPs to bring forward a bill that would allow reformers to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

More than 30 MPs have pledged to send the home secretary written questions on Monday demanding the domestic abuse bill be brought before parliament by the autumn. This would allow pro-choice MPs to put down an amendment that would give women in Northern Ireland the right to access terminations.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/11/abortion-campaigners-target-sajid-javid-over-northern-ireland