Responding to a speech given today (14th February 2025) by JD Vance, the Vice President of the United States of America, at the Munich Security Conference, in which he criticised the prosecution of an anti-abortion protester for breaching a safe access zone around a BPAS clinic, Heidi Stewart, BPAS CEO, said -
“Safe access zones around abortion clinics are necessary to protect women’s access to essential healthcare. An overwhelming majority of Parliament, including MPs from all national parties, supported the introduction of safe access zones – providing a strong democratic mandate for this essential change. And the vast majority of the British public support them too.
“BPAS is proud to have led the campaign to introduce these zones, proud to have spent nearly 60 years fighting for women’s health and rights, proud to provide abortion services in an overwhelmingly pro-choice country, and will always remain proud to stand against misogynistic and anti-democratic interference with British women’s reproductive rights by nefarious foreign extremists, whether they are the Vice President of the US or not.”
ENDS
For further information, please the BPAS press office on 07985 351751 or email press@bpas.org.
About BPAS
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, is a charity that sees over 100,000 women a year for reproductive healthcare services including pregnancy counselling, abortion care, miscarriage management and contraception at clinics across Great Britain.
BPAS exists to further women’s reproductive choices. We believe all women should have the right to make their own decisions in and around pregnancy, from the contraception they use to avoid pregnancy right the way through to how they decide to feed their newborn baby, with access to evidence-based information to underpin their choices and high-quality services and support to exercise them.
BPAS also runs the Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication, CRRC. Through rigorous multidisciplinary research and impactful communication, the CRRC aims to inform policy, practice, and public discourse. You can find out more here.