Opposition party leaders sign MPs' letter urging ban on prayer vigils outside abortion clinics
A total of 113 MPs, including the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, have signed a letter urging the Home Secretary Amber Rudd to ban prayer vigils outside abortion clinics.
The letter, signed by Corbyn, the Labour leader and Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was sent yesterday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act, which introduced legal abortion into Britain.
It comes after Ealing council in west London voted to use anti-social behaviour powers to stop vigils outside an abortion clinic in the borough and after legislators in Ontario, Canada, also voted to ban vigils outside clinics earlier this week.
The letter is written by Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton. It accused pro-life campaigners of harassing women outside the clinics – an accusation strongly denied by the Good Counsel Network, which organises the vigils.
Huq claimed that protesters called women 'murderers' and filmed them as they went in and out of the clinics.
She said that the idea was 'not to stop protests, but to ask protesters to instead make use of the many places they could protest – from Parliament Square to town centres to Speaker's Corner'.
She wrote: 'The women accessing clinics are not seeking debate – they are trying to make their own personal decision about their own pregnancy.'
Clare McCullough, the founder of the Good Counsel Network, has said that if protesters were truly harassing people, they would already face prosecution under existing laws.
'I'm amazed at the lengths people will go to stop pregnant women from looking at the alternatives,' she said. 'We try to make sure women are not being pressured into abortion. We've had hundreds of women accept help outside Marie Stopes.
'Harassment is a crime. If we were harassing anyone we would be arrested. In fact, what we're trying to do is help women to have an alternative, if they're willing to accept it.'
Christian Today reported yesterday on how hundreds of pro-life Christians flooded Westminster to mark the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act.
