Back Off

For many years anti-abortion groups have gathered outside abortion clinics to harass and intimidate women, with the aim of stopping women from getting an abortion. These groups display images of dismembered foetuses, hand out leaflets containing false medical information and film women entering clinics.

Encounters with these groups leave women feeling intimidated, distressed and, in some cases, too scared to get to their appointment.

Despite mounting evidence that the intimidation of women outside abortion clinics was growing, the government maintained that existing powers were sufficient to stop this kind of harassment – we knew that just wasn’t the case and that a national solution was desperately needed.

That’s why we kept pushing for new legislation to introduce buffer zones around clinics. A buffer zone would mean that certain activities could not take place within 150 meters of abortion clinics – effectively ending the harassment of women outside clinics.

This map details anti-abortion activity reported outside clinics in the UK from 2018 onwards. 50 clinics and hospitals in England and Wales were targeted by these groups over the course of just under 4 years.

On Tuesday 18^th October 2022 MPs voted to introduce buffer zones around all abortion clinics in England and Wales, by passing amendment NC11 to the Public Order Bill.

Amendment NC11 creates areas around abortion clinics and hospitals where the intimidation or harassment of women accessing abortion services will be an offence. A person found guilty of an offence under this new clause will be liable to a fine or imprisonment.

MPs were given a “free vote” which means they could vote based on how they felt about the issue, rather than with their party leadership. In the end 297 MPs voted to pass the amendment, whilst 110 MPs voted against the amendment. It means the amendment passed with a huge 187 majority.

It was a brilliant victory and MPs from both parties spoke passionately about the need to protect women accessing abortion care from harassment.

The Public Order Bill returned to the House of Commons and became law on March 7th 2023, with MPs voting against amendments to allow for “silent prayer”.

Thank you to all the organisations, MPs and individuals who have supported this campaign – we couldn’t have done it without you.

1. Share your experience: It will take time for Buffer Zones to be implemented, until then we expect that there will still be groups present outside some clinics and we’re still keen to hear the experiences of those who encounter them. If you have encountered harassment outside an abortion clinic and you’d like to tell us about it, please click here and fill in our quick online form. There’s no need to include your name or contact details if you don’t want to.

2. Stay up to date: For those who would like to – you can sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with our work and get involved with our other campaigns.

3.Set up a donation: We are a small campaigns team, with limited resources and we rely on the generosity of our supporters to help fund our efforts to protect and extend abortion rights.  We know times are challenging for many people but, if you can, please consider a monthly donation so we can keep winning campaigns to protect abortion rights across the UK.