Anti-Abortion Protesters May Soon Be Banned from UK Clinics
Reading Borough Council has already approved a “buffer zone.”
A landmark law was recently proposed in the U.K. which requires anti-abortion protestors to move away from clinics, restricting them via a “buffer zone.”
The law was proposed in order to protect women seeking an abortion, hoping to reduce the impact of graphic anti-abortion materials and harassment. Approved on October 18, the new legislation requires a protestor to be a minimum of 150-metres away from a clinic, with anyone infringing upon the zone likely to be imprisoned for up to six months.
The bill is still yet to be fully enacted, despite 297 MPs voting for it, but there’s already been progress among other parts of the U.K. For example, Reading Borough Council has agreed to create a designated protest zone and a protest exclusion zone “to protect the right of access” if required, according to BBC News.
Councillor Karen Rowland, who introduced the motion, told BBC that “The motion, and any subsequent action, recognises both the fundamental right of women to freely access women’s health care facilities and also the rights of those that may wish to protest against abortion services. However, our desire is to ensure that the right of access healthcare services in Reading is not constrained by intimidation or harassment.”
The legislation follows a rise in protestors targeting abortion clinics, with BBC reporting that 50 clinics in England and Wales were targeted in 2018 alone.
Stay tuned for more details.
