A leading provider of abortion care has criticised the Home Office for refusing to introduce exclusion zones after a group of anti-abortion activists protested outside a north London clinic on Saturday morning.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) said its clinic in Finsbury Park had never had any problem with demonstrations until Saturday, when staff and clients were met with a group of 45 people protesting outside the centre.
The healthcare provider said the group was stopping women as they left the clinic, approaching women as they tried to walk away, following them, and shouting they “love them”.
Bpas said the group was stopping pedestrians with small children and pushing leaflets through car windows, adding that residents on the street were also distressed by the protest.
In the past 18 months, 44 clinics have been affected by protests and of those, eight have not had demonstrations before, Bpas said. The abortion care provider said this was the direct result of the Home Office’s refusal to “take action” and introduce exclusion zones.
In 2018, the then home secretary Sajid Javid rejected a cross-party demand, saying it was not a “proportionate response” to the protests that take place outside some clinics. The Home Office said while there had been examples of anti-abortion protesters “handing out model foetuses, displaying graphic images” and even assaulting clinic visitors, such incidents were too infrequent to justify a blanket ban.
“Women report to us that they feel harassed and they feel scared. We have some women who have turned around because they feel they can’t walk past those people,” said Rachael Clarke, a spokesperson for Bpas. “One woman in a different clinic last week had covered her whole face up because she was scared of being photographed. In some cases it leaves women so upset they have to delay their treatment.”
The Labour MP David Lammy said: “Harassing and intimidating women at such a vulnerable moment in their lives is completely beyond the pale. We don’t need these US-style bully boy tactics over here. We must protect and defend a women’s right to choose.” He called on the Home Office to “outlaw this unacceptable behaviour”.
Clarke said Saturday morning’s protest highlighted the importance of implementing national legislation. “The law as it currently stands doesn’t go far enough. There are a very few number of clinics that would meet the bar of evidence and persistence to use the existing law. From our point of view its not acceptable we have gather evidence for six months to a year to prove there is a problem.”
Since 2014, BPAC has recorded 2,500 incidents, a figure Clarke said is “indicative rather than exhaustive” of the number clients and staff who have had issues with protestors. “Although it may look peaceful from the outside, it is very clearly targeted harassment of women. They are not trying to change the law or change public opinion, it is all about having direct access to women and interfere with women’s healthcare decisions.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The police and local authorities have powers to restrict harmful protests – these powers have been successfully used outside abortion clinics in Ealing and Richmond.”
