Review into protests outside abortion clinics
HOME Secretary Priti Patel has condemned harassment and intimidation outside abortion clinics as “utterly unacceptable”, and said the Government is reviewing its policy on protests.
She was speaking in the House of Commons in response to Birmingham MP Steve McCabe (Lab, Selly Oak), who has called for legislation to create “buffer zones” to ban protests outside clinics providing abortions and other services.
It follows protests close to a clinic in Station Road, Kings Norton, in his constituency.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr McCabe said: “A clinic on a quiet street in my constituency has been plagued by 40 protesters for over 12 months. Staff, local residents, teenage girls on their way to school and patients are all having opinions, leaflets and scripture forced on them.
“This is a place that offers family planning, counselling for those who have suffered miscarriages and a host of other services as well as terminations. I call what is happening wholly unacceptable harassment.”
Ms Patel said: “He is not alone on this; I have spoken to many other Members of Parliament about this, too. He is right to say that harassment and intimidation are utterly unacceptable. Important services and advice are being provided.”
She also told MPs the Goverment was considering whether people accessing abortion services needed more protection.
“The right to protest is a vital part of our democratic society, and no one should be harassed or intimidated at all. In 2018, the Government conducted a review of protests outside abortion clinics. This policy has been kept under review, and following recent engagement with the police and abortion service providers this year, we are considering whether more work should be done to protect those accessing or providing abortion services.”
The Government previously conducted a review into the issue in 2018, with then Home Secretary Sajid Javid concluding that “introducing national buffer zones would not be a proportionate response, considering the experiences of the majority of hospitals and clinics, and considering that the majority of activities are more passive in nature”.
On large protests generally, which have been legally restricted to two people through the coronavirus rules, Conservative MP John Howell asked: “In this lockdown are we going to abolish them and try to prevent them happening in order to protect officers and indeed the public?”
Home Office minister Kit Malthouse replied: “We all have an individual duty towards our collective health, we hope and believe that the police will be able to encourage the vast majority of our fellow citizens to observe the regulations, but where they don’t enforcement is an option and we have seen that over the last weekend.”