British ban on protesting outside abortion clinics goes into effect

A historic law came into force in England and Wales on Thursday aimed at shielding women accessing medical care by designating 150 meters ‘protected zones’ around abortion clinics. The law as a bill under the Public Order Act prohibited any action that would hinder, pressure, or intimidate persons seeking an abortion. While some of these rights are plainly defined in the law when it comes to conventional protestation, the provision’s uncertainty regarding silent prayer within these zones puts its status in question, and there is no upper limit to the fines that violators may suffer.

The Crown Prosecution Service has also stated that praying in silence near abortion clinics will not necessarily be against the law but is instead up to police discretion. This stems from an 18-month delay in implementation when legislators voted against alteration that would allow silent prayers in buffer zones. The compromise has generated confusion that legal minds are certain will be resolved through litigation.

Louise McCudden of MSI Reproductive Choices believes that any kind of prayer outside clinics automatically seeks to control women’s actions. On the other hand, Crime and Policing Minister Diana Johnson confidently insists that such measures will adequately protect women receiving healthcare services.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, speaking through its lead spokesman Bishop John Sherrington, has echoed the claim that the law is an unjustified infringement of the right to pray in public, and to engage publicly in charitable acts. This is in stark contrast to pro-choice advocates who have said even passive protesters can alarm clinic patrons. The UK’s approach is rather different from the American one as abortion rights are in a worse state now after the quotation of the Roe v. Wade reversal.

British law allows abortion up to 24 weeks with the permission of a doctor under the 1967 Abortion Act though abortions beyond that are governed by the 1861 Offenses Against the Person Act. This case refers to the latest legal issues, where a 45-year-old woman was imprisoned for late-term abortion pills.