Women Being Harassed Outside BPAS Clinics

[TeaAndHugs]

During the past few months, extreme anti-abortion protesters have been taking their campaign to remove the right to abortion in the UK onto the streets. Protesters from extremist group Abort67 (I won't link to their website as a very graphic video starts playing a few seconds after you arrive at the homepage) have been protesting outside BPAS clinics in Brighton since 2011, and they are now beginning to expand their protests to other parts of the country.

Protesters stand outside the clinic in Brighton with placards and banners showing extremely graphic images of aborted fetuses. Despite complaints from parents whose children attending the nearby primary school have been exposed to the graphic imagery, arrests of several of their members, and a public appeal from the head of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Abort67 continue to protest in this way.

Abort67 have a camera set up on a tripod outside the clinic. Although the protesters claim to be only filming themselves, many women entering the clinic have been upset by the presence of the camera as it is set up to give the impression that they are being filmed.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/cath-sutton/antiabortion-protesters-stop-punishing-women_b_1709278.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

I am aware that abortion is a controversial issue, but surely it cannot be right to target women at what is already a very difficult time with tactics that are designed to be intimidate? Abort67 don't know the situation of the women they approach outside the clinics - some may be going there because of miscarriage or complications with a wanted pregnancy. A rape victim with PTSD has already been reduced to tears by a protester who cornered her outside the clinic.

A campaign is being run to call on government to do something to tackle protests outside BPAS clinics (which offer contraceptive services as well as abortion). They provide a model letter that you can send to your MP to raise this issue and call for something to be done to protect women trying to access contraception, pregnancy advice and abortion from being harassed and shamed.

You can write to your MP here using a model letter: act.abortionrights.org.uk/lobby/16

Thanks for anyone who offers their support.

In my town, all aspects of sexual health are dealt with at the same place, which means that anyone going into the building could be having an abortion or they could be having a sexual health check up!

When I went to have my coil changed I was accosted outside the clinic! I was so shocked I could barely speak. There were 4 of them and one of me, they showed me all sorts of images and were 'preaching' (only way I can describe what they were doing) about how my unborn featus had rights that superceeded my own! I wasn't even pg at the bloody time!!

Eventually, I managed to get my point across and they left me be! It left me very shaken though and they were made to leave by the police who were called by the clinic!

This type of behaviour is a disgrace, yes, everyone is entitled to their rights and beliefs but, fgs, don't take the literature and slam it down peoples throats!

I was (at the time) a 25 year old who is quite capable of managing to make my own choices, however, I dread to think the number of 15/16 year old girls who have made a very difficult descion to have to then have all those images shoved in their faces!

@ithastobeNAICEham Exactly!

That's one of the things I find so galling about this - by harassing women who are going into clinics, protesters could actually be reducing the uptake of sexual health check-ups and contraceptive use - which would be rather counter-productive to lowering the abortion rate! They have also been bragging online about having "changed the minds" of some women going to the clinic for an abortion, but I fear that a lot of those women will end up going through with the abortion at a later point in pregnancy, when the risks are greater.

We really need to do something about this before it spreads any further.

@StewieGriffinsMom - Thank you. I support the right to protest but I strongly believe that a medical facility is not the place for it, particularly when the methods used are designed to cause distress.

Tea - I wonder, how many times women are "talked out of" an abortion, to then go on to have the baby and then get PND or even PTSD?? I know a few women who have made the choice to have an abortion and have spent many a year regretting the choice and even thoug, they all admit it was the right choice FOR Them at the time, they still have regrets!

I'm wondering how they would feel if they talked to a woman I know, her baby had a condition that was incompatable to life and would have died just after birth... Would they seriously suggest having that child so that the child could be born and experience nothing but pain and suffering for as long as doctors could possibly keep 'it' alive for?? Or would they say she was right in her choice and let her through??

Would they rather go back to the days where women who found themselves in such a place, to go to a back street abortionist and risk their own lives??

I regret not being more vocal when I had the chance with them tbh!

Stewiegriffinsmom - you have to contact the local police in order to formally protest AFAIK, but usually these 'groups' will use the same tactics as I experienced. Its quite normal for them.

They can be and are moved on by police, as and when the police are made aware of it. In my case the police were called by the centre. But as its usually classed as a non emergency the police can be slow to respond. A lot of the time the police will move them on and 10 mins later they are back! (A friend of a friend works at my local centre and has done training at others and has seen this several times, very rarely do they inform the police who then have to inform the local centre, this usually means they are able to reschedule any terminations and counselling sessions on these days)

@ithastobeNAICEham - Answers to your questions taken from Abort67's website.

On the subject of aborting severely disabled foetuses:
"Suffering and hardship are not bad things. They are means to a greater end, a crucial part of the human journey."

On the subject of women dying in backstreet abortions:
"These women aren't being forced to abort. A huge majority of the time it is their own decision."

The police need to be given more powers to deal with these protesters, such as detaining or fining repeat offenders who keep coming back to the same spot and continuing to obstruct after they have been warned by police - moving them on is obviously not working. In the US, they introduced legal 'bubble zones' around clinics, which mean that protesters have to stay a certain distance away, after protesters made it physically impossible for people to go in and out of some clinics.

OMFG!! "Suffering and hardship are part of life"??? Really?? So a baby who is only ever going to know pain and discomfort beyond hope before they die, at maybe even a few hours old, is going to know that its all part of the greater good?? People who honestly believe that make me sick! I'm currently pg, I don't believe in abortion for those who use it as part and parcel of contreception. However, I know of several people who have had abortions because they don't know if their baby will live or they will have a still birth and for other various reasons. Even though I am pg I know that if this baby had a condition like that, I'd do what was right for the baby and abort as I wouldn't put my child through that!!

Sorry, I'm ranting now! That's really annoyed me! This is the reason I hate these people! Sorry to rant on Tea&Hugs!!

An old mate of mine used to work in a women's health clinic in the 70s, and told me that once antichoice protesters tried to block a woman from entering the clinic when she was going there to ask for help as she thought she was about to miscarry a wanted pregnancy!

Antichoice activists are woman-hating scum. Ignorant, spiteful, utterly moronic people who hate women and want to see them all under forcible control.
At the moment, I rather think the best thing to do about them is mobilise feminists to turn their own tricks back on them: line up outside clinics, photograph them, publish the photographs with 'This Arsehole Hates Women'. Etc.

Would they seriously suggest having that child so that the child could be born and experience nothing but pain and suffering for as long as doctors could possibly keep 'it' alive for?? Or would they say she was right in her choice and let her through??

The former, and then they would tell the woman to pray for a miracle cure. Sadly this is what my mother believes, she suports SPUC. SPUC claim that the contraceptive pill, injection, implant and coil are 'aborticants'.

@solidgoldbrass - You need to be careful with that. Photographing people and publishing the photos without their consent is (I think?) illegal. There have been pro-choice demonstrations outside some clinics, but they've taken place on Sundays, when the clinics are closed. The line of thinking is that having more people standing outside makes the situation even more intimidating for the patients and staff caught in the crossfire.

It's difficult to know what to do for the best, but I think it's really important that the moderate views of the pro-choice majority don't get drowned out by a few very vocal and visible extremists. Hence emailing MPs and getting people talking about the issue.

Another thing to raise awareness about is that anti-abortion activists are using some rather suspect tactics to try to change public opinion about abortion. One of the main ones is to try to convince people that abortion is dangerous and harms women.

This is a leaflet handed out at a protest outside a clinic in London earlier in the year (they appear to come from SPUC):
bloomsburypca.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/vileleaflet1.pdf
Under "possible physical complications of abortion" they list breast cancer, which is rather misleading. The scientific evidence seems to lean towards abortion NOT increasing the risk of cancer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_breast_cancer_hypothesis
(I know wikipedia isn't the most reliable source, but it has links to some useful reviews and gives a good overview of the opinions of major health bodies).

The group Lovewise is also spreading the same kind of unproven "facts" in schools. This blog has details about how anti-choice groups are taking over sex ed in some schools and what exactly they are saying:
educationforchoice.blogspot.co.uk/

Sorry, I'm ranting on and going off topic a little, but I've been getting increasingly worried and angry about this for months and thought it was time people knew what was going on!

And there was me thinking we live in in 2012 in a free country where we are free to do what we like (within the law obviously) and associate with who we like! Then we have these nutters who get some sort of kick out of harrassing women who, IMHO, have probably made one of the hardest descions they will ever have to make!

sashh the miracle cure?? Its so wrong its unreal isn't it! There never has been, nor will there ever be a cure for these condtions!

tea abortions give you cancer?? Really?? Where are these people getting their facts from? The daily mail? (If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend watching the "russell howards daily mail cancer list" its very amusing) forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't making abortions safer part and parcel of them becoming legal??

Thanks for that. It happened to me in 1990 and i had to go out into a barrage of this sort of thing outside a private clinic.

@ithastobeNAICEham - I love that Russell Howard cancer song. :)

The guy who pushes the theory is an American biology professor with strong pro-life beliefs. The hypothesis is actually quite reasonable, but nearly 40 years of research has resulted in the conclusion that it's almost certainly not true. Not that that stops people spouting it.

@bringbacksideburns - I'm sorry. I didn't realise it was prevalent in 1990 (I was probably a bit too young to notice in those days).

It's because the situation is getting progressively more horrifying in America that it's starting up over here again.

I think a lot of these people need to read some of the stories on here and how this descion affects people later on in life and then they might realise exactly what being accosted by themselves will do to someone!!

I agree that the situation in america isn't being helpful and it has an effect on these groups based here!

bringback I'm very sorry you had to go through that.

It's not illegal to take and publish other people's photos without permission - the copyright is in the image (i.e. with the photographer).

Whether it is a safe thing to do is another matter.

OP, my MP supports Nadine Dorries so I don't like my chances with him, but I'll give it a go!

@Ennis - I didn't know that. Are you obliged to unpublish them if they object?

Thanks! At least you'll let him know that he's not representing the views of his constituents.

No, you aren't obliged to unpublish. If you put them on a website and the terms and conditions of that website obliged you to have the permission of the person in the picture, they could appeal to the website to take it down, but that wouldn't be because it was in breach of the law.

Otherwise celebs would be able to stop "Chat" and whatever publishing awful pictures of them!

I suppose you're right, Ennis.

If anyone gets a reply, can they post it here?

If I do, I'll c&p it here. So far I've had no acknowledgment at all, which is unusual for my MP (I've had to email him for a few things in the past year or so!)