To think anti abortion protesters should be kept away from abortion clinics?

[Midge1978]

Tomorrow Ealing Council will decide whether to pursue a public space protection order to prevent the harassment and intimidation of women accessing abortion services at the Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing after a petition from local pro-choice group, Sister Supporter.

Women and girls should not be bullied or intimidated when going for abortions and consultations. They are doing nothing illegal, it’s their personal medical matter and more often than not it’s a traumatic decision. Who the hell do these people think they are intimidating and harassing the vulnerable. If you genuinely have a problem with the law then go and bother parliament with your disgraceful pictures and placards and leave these poor women alone.

Yes they should. It's a difficult decision, not taken lightly Protest to your MP or Downing street instead

Completely agree.

Agree 100%.

Yanbu.

I completely agree.

Yanbu

I completely agree.

Agreed. All these people are doing is distressing women at what is often a very vulnerable and emotional time in their lives. If they feel strongly they should be writing to their mp and protesting/lobbying to them.

I doubt their behaviour has actually ever prevented an abortion which presumably is their aim. All they are doing is hurting people and causing distress they are not doing any good.

Agree. Anti abortion protesters are grubby parasites.

Agreed. Didn't Mumsnet do a campaign on this a couple of years ago?

Here it is

Agree.

Every Lent these abhorrent fuckers:

40daysforlife.com

protest outside abortion clinics. I have gone along to counter-protests, when the clinic is open we get there early to stake the space directly outside and just maintain a quiet presence, supporting women attending if they feel they need us. When the clinic is closed we get the loudhailer and drown them out.

In some cities they have thrown holy water at women attending the clinic. It is beyond repugnant.

As someone who has had a termination (and lives with that decision daily) I completely agree. It was and will probably always be the hardest decision I have ever made, someone protesting outside would have made the whole experience a lot more traumatic but not changed the outcome.

YANBU they are awful people

I agree as well

They shouldn't be allowed to harass and intimidate women

I am very keen on the right to free assembly and protest. But it absolutely does not have to be beside clinics. When people march in London they aren’t allowed to the door of 10 Downing Street. These arseholes shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred —miles— metres of clinics.

There is a Catholic Church next to the entrance of the JR Hospital in Oxford.

I honestly feel physically violent about the *** who hold their signs up there.

It was hard enough driving myself to hospital bleeding at 36 weeks without seeing your sick posters.

A zone is needed to protect women x

I hope so.

I used that clinic a few months ago and wondered why the hell the protested we're even there. I felt awful going in and almost cried at reception.

Absolutely. It shouldn't even be up for debate.

I agree with you. Abortion is an individual right and the business of that woman alone.

It's shocking that this even has to be a question to debate. Surely these protests are actually just about inciting hatred against women?

Except women (particularly women as defined as ‘people with uteri’) don’t appear to be protected under the hate crimes law. For some reason.

If you can keep protesters away from places like downing st it’s bloody shameful that the gov even need to be told they should be kept away from clinics.

I personally think using the images they tend to should also be against the law, locally they are regularly protesting outside my local college waving mangled dead baby placards, usually at rush hour on the busiest main round.
The nearest abortion service venue is a bastard hour away, what is the point other than causing alarm and distress which last time I checked was a bloody crime

Agreed I had one a few months ago which was the right decision for me. I can't imagine people outside protesting on the day I went I probably would of turned back!