{"id":248231,"date":"2021-06-29T17:38:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T22:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=248231"},"modified":"2023-11-14T20:09:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:09:02","slug":"uk-abortion-censorship-zone-amendment-withdrawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-abortion-censorship-zone-amendment-withdrawn\/","title":{"rendered":"UK’s abortion facility censorship zone amendment withdrawn… for now"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>)\u00a0Dr Rupa Huq MP\u2019s amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill<\/a> that would introduce censorship zones around abortion clinics nationwide has today been withdrawn.<\/p>\n

If passed, this amendment would not only prevent and criminalise the offering of practical and emotional support to women entering abortion clinics across England and Wales, but would threaten anyone implicated in such activities as liable for a prison sentence of up to two years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the amendment was withdrawn and not voted on at Committee Stage, it is expected to be tabled again at the upcoming Report Stage of the Bill.<\/p>\n

Huq previously attempted to introduce a similar Bill through the Commons, but it failed<\/a> to pass after its Second Reading last September. While that Bill had a low chance of becoming law, this amendment, if passed as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, has a much higher chance of becoming law.<\/p>\n

A threat to fundamental rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victoria Atkins MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding said<\/a> that the Government had \u2018kept this issue under very close review over the last few years\u2019. She also explained that, unlike the wider issue of abortion, the Government did not consider this amendment to be a \u2018matter of conscience\u2019 and were therefore prepared to whip against it.<\/p>\n

She also emphasised<\/a> that the \u201cGovernment has to have a proportionate response,\u201d given that, according to service providers, only 35 of 142 abortion clinics and 5 hospitals are currently or recently have been \u201caffected\u201d by protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we are concerned that a blanket ban across all of the service providers may not be proportionate given that the majority of clinics and the overwhelming majority of hospitals that provide these services do not appear thus far to be affected by protest\u201d. She suggested that local PSPOs (Public Space Protection Orders) were \u201cthe way forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robert Goodwill MP intervened<\/a>, asking: \u201cWould it be the case that, when an abortion clinic is in a general hospital, this could unintentionally stop people protesting say, against the closure of a ward or a service or even trade unionists protesting about a particular aspect of their employment rights?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Minister responded: \u201cThe Right Honourable Gentleman raises an important point. This is why we have to look so very carefully at the universality of the measures put forward by the Honorable Lady for Ealing and why we believe that PSPOs, as they are targetted and indeed have since been upheld by the Court of Appeal, seem to be, at the moment, the most effective way of managing issues outside of particular providers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned that subsection 3 of the new clause potentially includes medical practitioners and others from providing advice on abortion services within the confines of the buffer zones \u2013 in other words, within the clinic. And of course, nobody would want that to be an unintended consequence of this clause\u201d.<\/p>\n

She also agreed with Robert Goodwill MP that \u201cOther forms of protest may be caught in this new clause\u201d and that, consequently, \u201cThe government does not feel able to support this new clause\u201d.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0UK lawmaker wants pro-lifers jailed for offering help to women seeking abortions<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unnecessary legislation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2017<\/a>, former Home Secretary Amber Rudd launched a review into the scale and nature of pro-life vigils outside abortion clinics to establish if the Government would recommend the introduction of censorship zones. In the investigation, continued by the succeeding Home Secretary Sajid Javid, over 2,500 responded to a call for evidence, including abortion service providers, abortion service clients, those engaging in pro-life vigils, police forces and local authorities.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Sajid Javid announced that the Home Office could not find adequate reason to introduce censorship zones, stating that<\/a>: \u201c\u2026introducing national buffer zones would not be a proportionate response, considering the experiences of the majority of hospitals and clinics, and considering that the majority of activities are more passive in nature. In making my decision, I am also aware that legislation already exists to restrict protest activities that cause harm to others\u201d.<\/p>\n

Opposition to censorship zones<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opposition to censorship zones extends beyond<\/a> pro-life advocates to unite a large part of society who may not agree with the pro-life position on abortion but who oppose censorship zones as a threat to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

Despite supporting abortion, a number of prominent human rights groups and campaigners have spoken out against the introduction of censorship zones. These include Peter Tatchell<\/a>, the Manifesto Club<\/a>, Big Brother Watch,<\/a> Index on Censorship<\/a>, and the Freedom Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Be Here for Me website<\/a> highlights just a few of the many stories of women who have been helped by people outside abortion clinics, and the stories of women who could miss out on such support in the future.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:<\/p>\n

Thank you to the large group of people that rallied over the last week to get friends and family to email MPs. It is great news that Huq\u2019s amendment has been withdrawn from this Bill, for now. It is worded in such a way that it risks criminalising all forms of peaceful demonstration and offering of transparent advice on abortion by medical professionals themselves inside and within 150 metres of all abortion clinics. Existing laws already provide protections to prevent harassment if it is occurring, all this Bill would do is infringe upon the public\u2019s right to assembly and speech.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Right to Life UK<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a> for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to Life UK)\u00a0Dr Rupa Huq MP\u2019s amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would introduce censorship zones around abortion clinics nationwide has today been withdrawn. If passed, this amendment would not only prevent and criminalise the offering of practical and emotional support to women entering abortion clinics across England and Wales, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":245608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,5,4],"tags":[1950,10363,10368,2580,6558,69,909,1116,10369,2114,8648,10364,10367,10366,10362,10365,1940,126],"yoast_head":"\nUK's abortion facility censorship zone amendment withdrawn... for now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr Rupa Huq MP\u2019s amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would introduce censorship zones around abortion facilities was withdrawn.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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