England Introduces Buffer Zones to Ban Protests Outside Abortion Clinics

Buffer zones will be introduced around abortion clinics in England and Wales starting at the end of October, the British government said on Wednesday, in an effort to prevent the harassment of women using those services.

The new measures will prohibit protest within 150 meters — nearly 500 feet — of clinics or hospitals offering abortion services, and make it illegal to hand out anti-abortion leaflets in that buffer zone or block anyone from reaching a clinic. The penalty is a fine, with no upper limit.

As legal access to abortion has been curtailed in several countries around the world, most notably in the United States after the Supreme Court there overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion providers and academics in Britain say that protests at clinics in the country have increased.

In England and Wales, abortion is permitted up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, must be approved by two doctors, and can only be carried out under the care of a licensed clinic or National Health Service hospital. An abortion can be carried out after that time only if the mother’s life is at risk or if the fetus has a severe abnormality.

Jess Phillips, a government minister, said in a statement that the buffer zones would combat “harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to health care.”

“The right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no one should feel unsafe when they seek to access this,” she said. “For too long abortion clinics have been without these vital protections, and this government is determined to do all we can do to make this country a safer place for women.”