A “desperate” bill has been proposed in the Republic of Ireland demanding a €3,000 fine or a prison sentence for pro-lifers who gather outside abortion facilities to help women and the unborn.
The draft legislation, promoted by pro-abortion pressure group Together for Safety, seeks to impose a buffer zone around abortion centres and even GP surgeries and criminalise pro-life interventions.
Gaining support from Irish senators, including those from Sinn Féin, the Green Party and Labour, the Bill has been framed as wanting to ensure “free and unencumbered access” to abortion facilities.
Senator Paul Gavin intends to introduce the Bill within the next few weeks.
Edinburgh and Glasgow city councils have also considered imposing buffer zones around abortion facilities, preventing pro-lifers from providing women with support and a way out of abortion.
Police Scotland and a Home Office review have both confirmed that there is no evidence to suggest that buffer zones are necessary, because harassment outside abortion providers has been shown to be extraordinarily rare.
But pro-abortion activists across the UK have not relented in pushing buffer zones. Back Off Scotland, an abortion advocacy group, is currently petitioning Holyrood to enact buffer zone legislation.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “This sinister proposal is an illiberal attempt to criminalise loving interventions by pro-lifers – interventions that have been cynically redefined as ‘harassment’ by dishonest pro-abortion advocates with a clear agenda.
“Pro-life vigils and interventions are commonly vilified in the media, chiefly by pro-abortion activists masquerading as journalists, as SPUC has revealed previously, including the extraordinary misrepresentation of a prayer vigil outside a London abortion facility in 2020.
“Harassment of women outside abortion facilities has been proven time and time again to be a lie. Buffer zones are nothing but a desperate attempt to rob vulnerable women of an alternative to abortion.
“We must not criminalise love.”
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