Buffer zones around abortion facilities in England and Wales should be enforced as “a matter of urgency”, abortion ideologues told the new Home Secretary in a letter this week.
The letter was also signed by pro-abortion groups the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, MSI Reproductive Choices UK and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.
Following a delay in implementation after MPs approved buffer zones legislation last year, the letter said that the failure to enforce the new law means that women “continue to be routinely harassed as they seek to access or provide abortion care” – the letter did not provide any evidence to prove this claim.
Guidance on how to implement buffer zones in England and Wales was delayed under the Conservative Government, and pro-abortion groups have voiced disappointment that “so-called silent prayer” might not be included in the ban.
These groups have now requested a meeting with the Home Secretary or an appropriate minister “to discuss our experiences and concerns, and update us on a firm timetable for next steps”.
The Home Office has said it “will respond in due course”.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “The shameless pro-abortion lobby continues to lie about the nature and practice of pro-life vigils, where selfless individuals offer help, moral support and real choice to women in crisis pregnancies.
“Various studies, including a Home Office report, have found no evidence of harassment of women outside abortion facilities. Rather, it is pro-life men and women who have been harassed and he prayed silently for his dead son in recent months.
“If illiberal and censorious buffer zones are enforced, Britain’s tradition of democracy and liberty will be forever compromised to satisfy the whim of a vocal minority of extremists determined to have more abortion and less free speech.”
