The abortion clinic in Bournemouth (Ophir Road) experiences some of the worst anti-abortion harassment in the country, with anti-abortion groups harassing and intimidating women and pregnant people accessing the clinic.
These women do not just constitute people with unwanted pregnancies, but a multitude of people who come from challenging situations, such as victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse, children, and those having to abort wanted pregnancies due to non-viability. Abortion is, for many, highly private and nerve-wrecking and no woman wants to deal with anybody gathering outside clinics to harass them or 'bear witness' to their treatment. You wouldn't tolerate this behaviour going to your GP, dentist or hospital appointment. Staff and local residents also have to endure this near-daily harassment.
At Sister Supporter Bournemouth, we have launched a petition to persuade the council to introduce a buffer zone around the clinic, banning anti-abortion groups from harassing women and pregnant people. We thought that the wonderful BCP-council-area-based people of Mumsnet would be interested in sharing our campaign and signing our petition. If you want to know more about Sister Supporter and our campaign, you can find more information here.
If you're interested in taking a more active role in sharing our campaign work, you can sign up to become a Sister Supporter Champion here.