A Labour MP will mount a fresh attempt to create buffer zones outside abortion clinics to protect women seeking terminations from being harassed by demonstrators.
Cross-party MPs have backed efforts by Ealing MP Rupa Huq to ban protesters from abusing women at family planning facilities by calling them murderers or brandishing images of foetuses.
Ealing Council was the first local authority to introduce a protest-free zone outside a clinic in 2018 after a long-running row over the presence of aggressive pro-choice campaigners at the facility,
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But the-then home secretary Sajid Javid rejected calls to introduce exclusive zones outside all clinics in England and Wales, saying it would not be “proportionate response” to the levels of harassment.
Councils can apply for public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) to ban gatherings – such as in Ealing – but these orders need to be regularly renewed.
Ms Huq will bring forward a 10-minute rule motion on Wednesday to restrict demonstrations within 150m of facilities, which has been backed by a number of MPs, including senior Tories Sir Bernard Jenkin and Andrew Mitchell.
“Access to health services should be a fundamental human right that can be exercised without fear of intimidation for all,” she told The Independent.
“Following Ealing’s creation of this first ever buffer zone in the UK, Richmond and Lambeth have followed, with Manchester and Birmingham in the pipeline but it’s not right that women must submit themselves to effectively a postcode lottery to be able to avail themselves of reproductive care.”
Ms Huq argued that nationwide legislation would be more effective than putting the burden on struggling local authorities to bring in PSPOs.
She added: “This is not about the rights and wrongs of abortion or number of weeks. While emotions run high on that, it’s been legal for over 50 years.
“It’s about the rights of vulnerable women to access healthcare in safety, anonymity and dignity as they would be able to with any other procedure without the paraphernalia of protest in their face, which can range from from a range of activities designed to induce guilt – a leaflet tunnel (with grossly inaccurate quasi-medical info), foetus dolls, being called “mum” and being filmed/ live streamed.”
Rachael Clarke, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), which provides abortion services, said there have been protests outside 45 clinics, hospitals and GP surgeries over the past two years.
Bpas reported in February that anti-abortion protesters had been gathering outside its Finsbury Park clinic, with some women followed down the street or handed leaflets addressed to “Mum”.
“This is not political speech, but a deliberate attempt to stop individual women accessing abortion services,” she said.
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1/51 23 June 2020Tony Bennett the owner of The Devereux pub in Temple, London. Pub and hospitality bosses have cheered the Government’s proposals to allow customers through their doors again on July 4 as “a welcome relief”. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be able to reopen from July 4, with “one metre-plus” distancing measures in place
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Getty
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40/51 15 May 2020Estonian freelance ballet dancer and choreographer, Eve Mutso performs her daily fitness routine near her home in Glasgow, Scotland
Getty
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Nick Lucas/SWNS
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PA
1/51 23 June 2020Tony Bennett the owner of The Devereux pub in Temple, London. Pub and hospitality bosses have cheered the Government’s proposals to allow customers through their doors again on July 4 as “a welcome relief”. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be able to reopen from July 4, with “one metre-plus” distancing measures in place
PA
2/51 22 June 2020Police forensics officers carry out a search near Forbury Gardens, in Reading town centre, the scene of a multiple stabbing attack which took place at around 7pm on Saturday, leaving three people dead and another three seriously injured
PA
3/51 21 June 2020Soccer Football – Premier League – Everton v Liverpool – Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain – June 21, 2020 Children play football outside the stadium before the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Action Images via Reuters
4/51 20 June 2020Arsenal’s midfielder Nicolas Pepe kneels before the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium in southern England
AFP via Getty
5/51 19 June 2020Bianca Walkden during a training session at the National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester
PA
6/51 18 June 2020French President Emmanuel Macron gestures about social distancing alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he arrives at Downing Street for a meeting. Macron also visited London to commemorate the 80th anniversary of former French president Charles de Gaulle’s appeal to French people to resist the Nazi occupation during World War II
AFP/Getty
7/51 17 June 2020Players kneel, as well as, having ‘Black Lives Matter’ in place of names on their shirts prior to the start of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United at Villa Park in Birmingham. The league resumed after its three-month suspension because of coronavirus
AP
8/51 16 June 2020Motakhayyel ridden by Jim Crowley, right, wins the Buckingham Palace Handicap during day one of Royal Ascot. This year, the flat racing’s biggest meeting, is behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak
PA
9/51 15 June 2020Queues form at Primark at the Rushden Lakes shopping complex after the government relaxed coronavirus lockdown laws significantly, allowing zoos, safari parks and non-essential shops to open to visitors
Getty
10/51 14 June 2020A man kneels at a commemoration to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. The fire claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017
PA
11/51 13 June 2020Protesters confront police in Whitehall near Parliament Square, during a protest by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance
PA
12/51 12 June 2020A Black Lives Matter supporter sings to crowds who marched with her in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in London. The death of an African American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world
Getty
13/51 11 June 2020Scouts show their support at the Lord Baden-Powell statue in Poole. The statue of Robert Baden-Powell on Poole Quay is to be placed in “safe storage” following concerns about his racial views
Getty
14/51 10 June 2020Social distancing markers around the penguin enclosure at London Zoo. Staff have been preparing and are now ready for reopening next week with new signage, one-way trails for visitors to follow, and extra handwashing and sanitiser stations in place
PA
15/51 9 June 2020Protestors hold placards and shout slogans during during a protest called by the Rhodes Must Fall campaign calling for the removal of the statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes outside Oriel College, at the University of Oxford
AFP via Getty
16/51 8 June 2020Hermione Wilson helps to install a new artwork at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, created as a tribute to the NHS titled “A Thousand Thank Yous” originally devised by the late Allan Kaprow which consists of colourful painted messages on cardboard and has been directed remotely by London-based artist Peter Liversidge
PA
17/51 7 June 2020The Edward Colston statue has been pulled down by Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol. Colston was a 17th century slave trader who has numerous landmarks named after him in Bristol
SWNS
18/51 6 June 2020Children pose for their family in front of discarded placards fixed on a wall in Piccadilly Gardens after a Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Manchester. The death of an African-American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world
Getty
19/51 5 June 2020Protesters kneel in Trafalgar Square during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in London, England. The death of an African-American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world
Getty
20/51 4 June 2020Protestors march from Windsor Castle in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement
Getty
21/51 3 June 2020People wearing face masks hold banners in Hyde Park during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis
Reuters
22/51 2 June 2020Street artist Nath Murdoch touches up his anti-racism mural in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
PA
23/51 1 June 2020Customers socially distance themselves as they queue to enter Ikea in Warrington. The store opening saw large queues of people and traffic on adjacent roads as it reopened after the lockdown. The furniture and housewares chain reopened its stores across England and Northern Ireland subject to several restrictions, keeping its restaurants closed and asking customers to shop alone
Getty
24/51 31 May 2020A man wearing a protective face mask kneels in front of police officers during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd near the U.S. Embassy, London, Britai
Reuters
25/51 30 May 2020Visitors at Grassholme Reservoir in Lunedale, Co Durham are able to cross an ancient packhorse bridge as work on the dam wall means water levels have dropped signifcantly to reveal this monument of the pas
UK
26/51 29 May 2020British Tennis player Maia Lumsden in action at Bridge of Allan Tennis Club. People can meet family and friends outdoors and play sports such as golf and tennis again as the country is moving into phase one of the Scottish Government’s plan for gradually lifting lockdown
PA
27/51 28 May 2020A police frogman, searches for a weapon in Abington Lake in in Northampton
Getty
28/51 27 May 2020Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears before the Liaison Committee via Zoom from the cabinet room at 10 Downing Street, amid the coronavirus
10 Downing Street/Reuters
29/51 26 May 2020Members of the public relax on the beach at Botany Bay in Margate
Getty
30/51 25 May 2020Dominic Cummings, senior aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, makes a statement inside 10 Downing Street, London, over allegations he breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions
AP
31/51 24 May 2020A demonstrator holds a sign reading ‘Why are you above the law?’ outside the house of Dominic Cummings in London, following allegations Cummings broke coronavirus lockdown rules by travelling across the country
Reuters
32/51 23 May 2020People take a walk near Durdle Door as cows graze in Lulworth
Reuters
33/51 22 May 2020Waves break onto a wall at Brighton beach
Reuters
34/51 21 May 2020Cafe owner Francini Osorio serves customers in a trial phase during the coronavirus lockdown. Osorio has installed an air purifier and 35 clear shower curtains, which will divide customers and tables, in the Francini Cafe De Colombia, Worcester, ready for the re-opening of his business as lockdown restrictions are eased
PA
35/51 20 May 2020People at Bournemouth beach in Dorset, as people flock to parks and beaches with lockdown measures eased. The Met Office has predicted the hottest day of the year
PA
36/51 19 May 2020A dog jumps into the water as families relax at a Lido in London
AP
37/51 18 May 2020A fan celebrates outside Celtic Park after Celtic were crowned champions of the Scottish Premiership. Hearts were also relegated after a decision was made to conclude the season with immediate effect
PA
38/51 17 May 2020People on Brighton beach after the introduction of measures to bring the country out of lockdown
PA
39/51 16 May 2020Police lead away Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as protesters gather in breach of lockdown rules in Hyde Park in London after the introduction of measures to bring the country out of lockdown.
PA
40/51 15 May 2020Estonian freelance ballet dancer and choreographer, Eve Mutso performs her daily fitness routine near her home in Glasgow, Scotland
Getty
41/51 14 May 2020Senior charge nurse Jan Ferguson views artwork “Theatre of Dott’s” by Kate Ive, inspired by Professor Norman Dott and his neurosurgery theatres at the Western General from 1960-2019. It is one of a number of artworks which sit on the walls of NHS Lothians’ Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) which has been transferred into a purpose-built new home on the Little France campus in Edinburgh
PA
42/51 13 May 2020Team GB’s karate athlete Jordan Thomas trains outside his apartment in Manchester
Reuters
43/51 12 May 2020Nurses from central London hospitals protest on international nurses day about the chronic underfunding of the NHS and other issues surrounding the health service outside the gates of Downing Street, London
PA
44/51 11 May 2020Waves crash at Tynemouth pier on the North East coast
PA
45/51 10 May 2020A woman passes street art and a poster in East London
Reuters
46/51 9 May 2020Police patrol the beach in Brighton
Getty
47/51 8 May 2020The British Royal Air Force Red Arrows conduct a fly past over the statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE Day) in Britain
MOD/Reuters
48/51 7 May 2020Team GB sailor Eilidh McIntyre during a training session at her home in Portsmouth
Reuters
49/51 6 May 2020Labour Party leader Keir Starmer listens to Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during PMQs
UK Parliament/AFP/Getty
50/51 5 May 2020The sun appears to explode over the horizon in this montage of images captured by photographer Nick Lucas near his home in Ringwood, Hampshire. Nick took a number of pictures just a few seconds apart on a tripod mounted camera which were then combined to give the eye catching dawn image
Nick Lucas/SWNS
51/51 4 May 2020Leeds Green Watch firefighters observe a minute’s silence outside the fire station in Kirkstall Rd, in memory their colleagues that lost their lives in the line of duty
PA
“Despite our work with local councils and police forces, this is a national problem that needs legislation to put a stop to it.
“After a brief reprieve as a result of COVID-19, these protests are beginning to re-emerge across the country. Women and healthcare workers need MPs to stand up for their rights to access services and provide medical care without fear of intimidation and harassment.”
If approved, the draft bill will proceed to its next Commons stage. However backbench legislation of this kind rarely becomes law without government backing.
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk