Netherlands – Abortion clinics report more attacks and intimidation

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/


State-Enabled Intimidation: How Anti-Abortion Extremism Is Undermining Legal Healthcare in Poland

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.

Continued: https://astra.org.pl/state-enabled-intimidation-how-anti-abortion-extremism-is-undermining-legal-healthcare-in-poland/


America’s abortion wars: inside the clinic on the front line

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)


SCOTLAND – Research into protests and vigils that take place outside clinics and hospitals offering abortion care

8 August 2025
From Minister for Public Health and Women's Health, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care

Chapter one: Introduction
This research was conducted by Rocket Science on behalf of the Scottish Government. Rocket Science are an independent research and evaluation organisation who were commissioned to examine the prevalence, scale and impact of protests and vigils taking place outside of healthcare facilities that offer abortion care in Scotland. Specifically, the research was undertaken to:

  • examine the prevalence, frequency and scale of vigils and protests which occur outside of healthcare facilities providing abortions
  • explore the impact of vigils and protests on patients’ ability to, and experiences of, accessing abortion services in Scotland.
  • understand the perspectives and motivations of those involved in protests and/or vigils.

Continued: https://www.gov.scot/publications/research-protests-vigils-take-place-outside-clinics-hospitals-offering-abortion-care/


Russian convent hands out plastic fetuses to women in anti-abortion campaign

July 30, 2025

A convent in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk recently organized a campaign of handing out plastic fetuses to local women in an effort to discourage abortions, according to the independent outlet 7×7.

The initiative was held in shopping centers, libraries, at city festivals, and on university campuses. Volunteers and activists from the Odigitrievsky Convent claimed afterwards that their efforts had “saved 658 lives,” a local Telegram news channel reported.

Continued: https://meduza.io/en/news/2025/07/30/russian-convent-hands-out-plastic-fetuses-to-women-in-anti-abortion-campaign


USA – Amid Rise in Anti-Abortion Activism, Clinic Protections Are More Needed Than Ever

How abortion clinic staff and volunteers are working to protect patients as the anti-abortion movement mobilizes against providers.

by Eleanor J. Bader
July 23, 2025

Fifteen years ago, when Eileen learned that anti-abortion protesters were jeering at people entering Equality Health Center in Concord, New Hampshire, she decided to take action to ensure patients’ security in her city.

Eileen, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her privacy, has been a clinic escort ever since, walking patients into the building, listening to their stories, and doing what she can to distract them from anti-choice taunts. “I can’t abide injustice or inequality,” she tells The Progressive. “Escorting is highly emotional work, but I feel privileged to be able to help. As escorts, we put our bodies on the line and make a real difference.”

Continued: https://progressive.org/latest/anti-abortion-activism-clinic-protections/


A powerful and coordinated movement against human rights is growing in the UK

July 9, 2025
Amnesty International UK

A powerful anti-rights movement is growing in the UK, threatening to roll back our hard-won freedoms and rewrite the rules on whose rights, bodies and lives deserve protection.

Our groundbreaking analysis has uncovered a rapidly expanding network of organisations working to undermine human rights protections, targeting reproductive freedoms, LGBTI rights and promoting dangerous practices such as so-called "conversion therapy".

This threat is real, organised and growing. But we see their game, and we won’t stand for it. 

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/anti-rights


Edmonton to consider mandating envelopes, warnings for graphic flyers

Anti-abortion groups say they have the right to freedom of expression

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News
Jul 04, 2025

Edmonton's city council will consider adding restrictions aimed at preventing people from unwittingly seeing flyers with graphic imagery.

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette introduced a motion during Wednesday's city council meeting that administration prepare changes to the community standards bylaw to require all unsolicited print material containing graphic images to be contained in a sealed opaque envelope with a content warning and senders' names and addresses.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-city-council-graphic-flyers-bylaw-1.7576851


Edinburgh abortion clinic set for fresh round of harassment from US religious group – despite buffer zone laws

Ruth Suter & Chloe Goodall
Fri 4 July 2025

An Edinburgh clinic is set to endure a fresh round of anti-abortion harassment from an American religious group despite new laws designed to prevent protests taking place near clinics.

The Texas-based group, 40 Days for Life, announced online that it will hold a series of "prayer vigils" near Chalmers Clinic in September. The activity is expected to last for 40 days and will commence from September 24 with the last "vigil" to take place on November 2.

Continued: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/edinburgh-abortion-clinic-set-fresh-180623994.html


‘I’m an abortion nurse – I hold out hope UK won’t follow America’s draconian path’

At a time of progression and regression in the field of women's reproductive rights, abortion clinic nurse Kendall Robbins has shed light on what goes into her daily work, including the challenges and misconceptions she's come up against

Julia Banim
28 Jun 2025

Last week, Adriana Smith, a brain-dead woman whose decomposing body was kept alive so her baby could be born, was finally taken off life support. The newborn, named Chance, weighed just 1 lb 13oz. It was a case that has shocked those already repulsed by the controversial reversal of Roe vs Wade in the US, a move that has already resulted in women dying after being denied life-saving care.

…But could we see such horror stories unfolding in the UK in the not-too-distant future? Advanced practice development nurse Kendall Robbins, who deals with the realities of terminations on a daily basis, thinks not.

Continued: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/im-abortion-nurse-hold-out-35449310