May 7, 2026
Maria McCann, North east reporter, BBC News NI
A retired pastor has said it is a "very dark day for Christian freedom" after being found guilty of breaching abortion buffer zone laws by preaching biblical verses near a hospital.
Clive Johnston, 78, from Melmount Road, Sion Mills in County Tyrone, held an open-air service in a safe access zone within the vicinity of Causeway Hospital on 7 July 2024.
Apr 28, 2026
BBC
A woman who was arrested and charged for taking part in an anti-abortion protest outside a hospital in Glasgow has had her case dismissed.
Rose Docherty, 75, became the first person charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act after holding up a placard outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in May, and again in September.
April 2, 2026
Abortion clinics in the Netherlands are reporting an increasing number of attacks as anti-abortion sentiment grows, the Telegraaf reported on Thursday.
“We used to get the odd nasty letter, and no one came to demonstrate at the clinic but since 2017, we have become a target,” Femke van Straaten, a director of abortion clinics in Amsterdam and Haarlem, told the paper. The incidents range from demonstrations near the clinic to being sent IS decapitation videos.
Continued: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/04/abortion-clinics-report-more-attacks-and-intimidation/
12.02.2026
ASTRA Network
Poland is experiencing a coordinated and escalating campaign of anti-abortion intimidation and disinformation that directly undermines women’s access to lawful healthcare. This campaign is driven by fundamentalist actors and increasingly reinforced by political figures and state institutions that legitimize and amplify these practices. Together, these dynamics create a climate in which legally guaranteed medical services are systematically obstructed through fear, harassment, and institutional pressure.
Abortion Access in Poland: Law and Reality
Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion legislations in Europe. Following politically captured rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal, abortion is now effectively permitted only when a pregnancy poses a threat to a woman’s life or health, or when it results from a criminal act.
Photograph, first published by anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe, purportedly taken at Townsville hospital
Tony Shepherd
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Authorities are trying to have the image removed from social media, while the Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS) is investigating how it was taken and shared.
Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe first published the photo.
She claims that after a woman at Townsville hospital had an abortion, a “whistleblower” took the photo in a room for grieving parents at the hospital and leaked it to her.
January 29, 2026
Tom Edwards
A woman has pleaded not guilty to a public order offence after being accused of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, 48, from Malvern in Worcestershire, is the first person in England and Wales to be charged under new "buffer zone" legislation which came into force in October 2024 and restricts some activities near abortion facilities.
Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, abortion is illegal in 13 US states. New Mexico has become the nearest place for many women to terminate a pregnancy — if they can get past the religious activists on a mission to change their minds
George Grylls
Friday January 16 2026
Haley Nathan, 19, writes down the details of women’s cars on a clipboard outside an abortion clinic in New Mexico, braced for the day ahead. New Mexico is the closest option for any Texan woman to receive an abortion since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022.
She’s frequently yelled at, or shown the middle finger. “I try not to let it bother me because it’s gonna affect my performance on the sidewalk,” says Nathan, a young intern, fixated on the clinic’s door as she prepares herself for the hostility coming her way. “I like to say it’s not me who’s doing the work. It’s God in me. I step out, God steps in.”
Continued: https://archive.is/6FX9Y
(https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/abortion-roe-v-wade-h2j7j9lm9)
Friday, 19 December 2025
Plans to create legally mandated buffer zones around abortion clinics to protect visitors from protesters have been halted after last-minute opposition from BBB Vice Prime Minister Mona Keijzer, sources told RTL. The move affects proposals by ministers for Interior and Kingdom Relations, Rijkaart (BBB), and Justice and Security, Van Oosten (VVD).
The proposal, submitted last Friday to the ministerial council, aimed to establish zones around clinics where demonstrations would be restricted. “Women must be guaranteed a quiet passage to an abortion clinic,” the ministers wrote in an unpublished letter seen by RTL. Currently, such protections depend on decisions by individual mayors.
Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/19/minister-blocks-plan-protest-buffer-zones-around-abortion-clinics
9/17/2025
by Jodi Enda, Ms. Magazine.
Julie Burkhart’s clinic was torched.
Burkhart, like Ruth Richardson, has been working in abortion facilities for years. And, like Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, she is no stranger to threats or violence. In 1991, Burkhart was a young clinic worker in Wichita, Kan., when abortion opponents poured into town to participate in the so-called Summer of Mercy, a six-week protest organized by Operation Rescue (slogan: “If you believe abortion is murder, then act like it’s murder!”). They conducted blockades at the city’s three abortion clinics and threw themselves in front of cars to keep drivers from entering the clinics’ parking lots.
In 2009, Burkhart’s mentor, Dr. George Tiller, was shot in the head and killed as he was ushering at his Wichita church. The murder came 16 years after Tiller, one of the few doctors in the nation who performed abortions later in pregnancy, was shot in both arms by an extremist, and 23 years after his clinic was bombed.
Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/09/17/george-tiller-abortion-providers-attack/
Phoebe Davis
Saturday 16 August 2025
Network of well-funded bodies backs cases in UK after JD Vance’s challenge on buffer zones outside abortion clinics
The Trump administration has warned the UK that “buffer zones” that criminalise protest outside abortion clinics represent an “egregious violation” of free speech and threaten the “shared values that underpin US-UK relations”.
The US escalation in intervening in the prosecution of British anti-abortion protesters comes after the White House took the highly unusual step of criticising the UK for a “worsening” human rights situation, citing “safe access zones” around clinics as an area of concern.
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn