Anti-abortion campaigners could be banned from praying outside a clinic in West London if a vote at Ealing Council is passed tonight.
Protestors taking part in a regular vigil outside a Marie Stopes abortion centre on Mattock Lane for more than 20 years have been accused of provoking 'intimidation, harassment and distress' for women who had chosen a termination.
A campaign gained widespread support with more than 3,000 people signing a petition asking the council to instil a 'buffer zone' meaning no protests could be allowed within 100 metres of the clinic. It prompted a consultation from the local council, who will now decide whether to impose a public spaces protection order (PSPO) around the clinic. If they do so, prayer vigils could be banned in the immediate area around the centre.
The council denied it was criminalising prayer. 'It should be clear from the order that the only "prayer" which is prohibited is that which amounts to an act of approval/disapproval of issues relating to abortion services,' the report to be considered tonight said. 'It is not a general ban on prayer and it applies only within the "safe zone" defined by the order.'
The Good Counsel Network, which holds daily vigils outside the centre on Mattock Lane, denies any harassment. Critics of the move say a 'buffer zone' around the abortion centre would amount to censorship.
A group of women who say they chose against an abortion after meeting protestors outside a clinic are set to demonstrate outside Ealing Town Hall ahead of the vote tonight.
Elisabeth Howard, spokeswoman for the Be Here for Me campaign, said Ealing Council had 'swallowed the pro choice narrative without question'.
Writing for Christian Today she said: 'It is the most vulnerable women who will suffer from this draconian measure. Women who have nowhere else to turn, who feel that abortion is their only choice but do not want to have to take that choice, women under pressure from partners, family or personal circumstances. There is practical help available for these women which is not on offer elsewhere, and the council wishes to take this away.'
'What kind of society refuses help for a vulnerable woman?,' said Alina, one of the mothers behind the Be Here For Me campaign. 'My little girl is here today because of the real practical and emotional support that I was given by a group outside the outside the Marie Stopes clinic.'
Jaceline, another mum, added: 'My daughter means the world to me. It is really upsetting to know that people are actively trying to ban the offering of support like I received outside the abortion clinic. If censorship zones are brought in, many women who are in similar situations to me will be forced into going ahead with abortions they don't want.'
However the campaign to bring in buffer zones has won high profile backing from politicians including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who said 'behaviour that seeks to deliberately target women for harassment and intimidation should not be tolerated'.
Local Labour MP Rupa Huq also backed the campaign. 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.'
Lisa Jones, who had an abortion at the Ealing clinic, said the images and behaviour of the protestors still haunts her.
'They said I was a murderer... that I was killing something with a heartbeat,' she told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. 'The words still live with me today, still haunt me today.'
The government has also held its own consultation into harassment and intimidation near abortion clinics and the Home Office says it is now reviewing the responses, before deciding whether to take action.
