Thursday 31 October 2024
- After a decade of BPAS’s campaigning, and 18 months since the law was passed overwhelmingly by Parliament – safe access zones will today come into force in England and Wales.
- Women will be protected when seeking essential healthcare by a 150m-radius zone around abortion clinics.
- Activity designed to influence women or which causes harassment, alarm, or distress will all be banned under the law
- Evidence from women accessing abortions indicate this will include handing out leaflets, display of signs and posters about abortion, approaching and following women, attempting to talk to women about their abortion choices, and persistent presence which may or may not involve prayer or singing
- The implementation of safe access zones in England and Wales follows the introduction of safe access zones in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Making the UK a leader in the protection of women seeking abortion care across Europe.
Heidi Stewart, CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said:
“This is a huge day for campaigners who have fought for a decade for safe access zones around abortion clinics, led by BPAS. But most importantly, this is a huge day for women. For too long women have been harassed, intimidated, and abused going in to seek essential healthcare. They’ve been called murderers. They’ve had pamphlets shoved at them falsely claiming abortion causes breast cancer. And our staff are being threatened, abused and followed to their cars simply for doing their jobs.
“Today, all of that will come to an end. And my message to anyone considering approaching abortion clinics with any form of malicious or intimidatory intent – do so at your own risk. Not only will we be remaining vigilant and reporting any activity outside our clinics, we will be urging the public to do the same. There is no room for intimidation in abortion care.”
If anyone sees someone doing something forbidden in a safe access zone, they will be encouraged to call the police on 101, and report the harassment here: Share Your Experience - BPAS Campaigns
The relevant section of the Public Order Act 2023 can be found here: Public Order Act 2023
ENDS
For further information, please contact Georgina O’Reilly, Head of Campaigns and Communications (maternity cover), on georgina.oreilly@bpas.org or 07384 891886.
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.