Ealing Council's abortion clinic 'buffer zone' will face a legal challenge after pro-life protesters said they would appeal the decision.
A public spaces protection order (PSPO) around a Marie Stopes centre on Mattock Lane, west London, came into force this morning meaning that no group could gather there. It comes after a regular prayer vigil held by the Good Counsel Network was accused of being intimidatory.
Alina Dulgheriu, part of a group of mothers who say they were helped by pro-life demonstrations outside clinics, will file the appeal this week.
Pro-choice campaigners are hoping the decision, imposed by Ealing Council, will be replicated around the country with the Home Office considering responses to its own consultation on safe zones around clinics. Eight other councils are considering similar action as campaigners say the number of protests were on the rise.
Rachael Clarke, a public affairs and advocacy manager at the British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS), described the spread of vigils outside abortion centres as 'deeply worrying'.
'In recent years protests have become more regular, wider spread and more intimidating. What used to be a couple of nuns on the street is now groups of people approaching women and trying to talk to them about their personal medical decisions,' she told the Guardian.
'But it's important to know that regardless of what protesters do, their very presence is intimidating to women.'
However the legal challenge will argue the ban contravenes human rights, particularly the right 'to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers'.
Dulgheriu is part of the Be Here For Me campaign which says hundreds of women have been helped by vigils such as the one outside the Marie Stopes clinic on Mattock Lane.
She said the measure was 'draconian' and 'criminalises prayer'.
'My little girl is here today because of the real practical and emotional support that I was given by a group outside the outside a Marie Stopes clinic,' she said. 'I am launching my legal challenge at the high court to ensure that all women at Ealing and across the country do not have a vital support option removed. In doing this I represent the thousands of women who have been helped by these vigils.'
She added: 'What sort of a society criminalises charity that is wanted and welcomed by many? Britain has a reputation for being a liberal, caring society, but what is liberal or caring about censoring free speech, banning charity and ignoring women who need help?'
The campaigners are hoping the court will impose a temporary suspension of the PSPO, which came into effect at 9am Monday morning.
