Abortion buffer zones come into force today in England & Wales

Safe access zones around abortion clinics come into effect in England and Wales from today, covering a 150-metre radius from a clinic.

Any act within this area that obstructs or harasses clinic users or staff will be deemed an offence.

The so-called buffer zones in England and Wales were part of legislation passed 18 months ago but there was a delay in implementation while arguments persisted around whether silent prayer should be included.

What is a buffer zone?

Known as “safe access zones” in the legislation, these are areas within 150 metres of a clinic or hospital providing abortion services.

Under the Public Order Act 2023, it is an offence for someone to, within this area, do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment, alarm or distress to someone using or working at the premises.

Anyone found guilty of such an offence will face an unlimited fine.

Where will this apply to?

England and Wales.

Legislation creating buffer zones around abortion clinics in Scotland, banning any protests or vigils there, came into force last month.

In Northern Ireland, safe access zones at health service locations which offer abortion and birth control services have been in place since September 2023.

Weren’t buffer zones already in place in England and Wales?

A similar measure has been in effect outside some clinics but these have been enacted by councils, rather than being national legislation.

Known as public spaces protection orders (PSPOs), the first in the UK was enacted by west London’s Ealing Council in April 2018 outside the MSI Reproductive Choices Clinic in Mattock Lane.

Campaigners had long made the case for the need for national legislation, arguing that PSPOs depend on local councils’ willingness, are timebound, can be expensive and result in a postcode lottery.

Will silent prayer be banned in these zones?

Silent prayer will not be automatically banned in the new protected zones around abortion clinics in England and Wales.

Instances will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with police and prosecutors deciding around the intent or recklessness of the person involved.

Pro-choice campaigners had called for a total ban on silent prayer within the zones, arguing a woman using a clinic can feel intimidated by the presence of someone standing in the area praying, even if they are not speaking.

But opponents of the new law have repeatedly insisted not allowing silent prayer is a “gross intrusion in the right of freedom of religion, free speech”, with the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) indicating they could seek legal action, saying any inclusion of silent prayer “needs to be properly tested in the courts”.

What have anti-abortion campaigners been saying?

Campaigners have argued that a ban on silent prayer threatens their rights to freedom of expression and religious belief.

Right To Life UK said the zones will mean “vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics, which helps to provide a genuine choice, and offers help to women who may be undergoing coercion, will be removed”.

The UK branch of ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) said the right to engage in silent prayer is “the most basic of human rights” and described the enactment of the buffer zones as “a watershed moment for British freedoms”.

And what about pro-choice groups?

Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), welcomed the zones which she said “can’t come soon enough”, after years of patients and staff at clinics facing “anti-abortion fanatics standing outside clinics for hours” staring, handing out leaflets and displaying “graphic and distressing posters”.

Louise McCudden, from MSI Reproductive Choices, said the new zones will protect women and frontline healthcare workers, adding: “Whatever your personal views are on abortion, nobody should be harassed while accessing healthcare.”

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