Protected zones coming into force outside abortion clinics represent a balance between religious freedom and a woman’s right to privacy, an MP has said, as an opposition group branded them “chilling and Orwellian”. Safe access zones will come into effect from Thursday, covering a 150-metre radius where it is expected any act that obstructs or harasses clinic users or staff will be deemed an offence. The so-called buffer zones in England and Wales were part of legislation passed 18 months ago but there was a delay in implementation while arguments persisted around whether silent prayer should be included.
A group opposing the zones said the inclusion of silent prayer “constitutes a gross intrusion in the right of freedom of religion, free speech” and suggested the measure must be “properly tested in the courts”. But Labour MP Stella Creasy branded the delay in the zones coming into force “a massive democratic outrage”, because a specific amendment to allow silent prayer in the zones was voted down in Parliament last year when the Public Order Bill was debated. She told the PA news agency the enactment of the zones this week is “long overdue” and rejected claims from anti-abortion campaigners that the inclusion of silent prayer encroached on their right to religious freedom.
She said: “They (anti-abortion campaigners) have had a democratic moment. Parliament has debated, discussed, and ultimately voted on the very principles that they claim are being den.
