Britain bans pro-life protests outside London abortion clinic

A ban on pro-life protests outside an abortion clinic in London came into force on Monday in a first that pro-choice campaigners hope will set a precedent for the country.

The local authority in Ealing, west London imposed an exclusion zone after claims that women and staff at the Marie Stopes clinic were being intimidated and harassed by vigils that have been held outside the building for more than 20 years.

The weekend before the ban came into force, a small group of people, including clergymen, gathered on the grass outside the clinic, praying out loud for the women inside and their children.

One of them stood by the entrance, offering leaflets to women going in, while on the ground, laminated color photographs showing an unborn foetus were laid out.

Sitting in a fold-up chair in the shade of a tree, a rosary in his hand, local pensioner Eamonn Gill rejected claims of harassment, saying: “We’re just offering help.”

But he added: “People don’t want to listen to the truth. They’re using violence to abort a baby, to murder a baby. It feels pain, and they don’t want to see it.”

Abortion became legal in Britain by an act of parliament that came into force 50 years ago on Friday. It has strong public support, but protests outside clinics are increasing, some by groups funded from the US.

The buffer zone in Ealing, a leafy residential district, was introduced after a petition signed by 3,600 local residents, followed by a public consultation.

Weekly vigils have been held for 23 years at the clinic, which provides abortions and vasectomies on the state-run National Health Service (NHS), but in recent years these increased to almost daily.

Since 2015 there have also been counter-protests by local campaign group Sister Supporter.

Its founder Anna VeglioWhite, now 25, grew up in the area and said she often saw women leaving the clinic in tears after being confronted by members of the vigil.