Following the implementation of ‘safe access zones’ spanning 150-metres around abortion clinics, England and Wales are thought to be paving the way for reproductive rights and women’s bodily autonomy in Europe. The same certainly can’t be said for our cousins across the pond.
For women accessing these vital health services in the UK, buffer zones were brought in on the 31st of October this year to criminalise specific behaviours of determined campaigners. Within these safety zones it is illegal to engage in behaviour which may influence someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstruct them, or cause harassment or distress to staff working at these premises. These rules apply within an 150-metre radius of the abortion service provider. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law faces an uncapped fine.
The implementation of the law follows increasing calls from reproductive rights activists urging the Home Office to protect women seeking an abortion. YouGov polling supported the calls with statistics from 2023 suggesting 77% of Brits back safe access zones.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said: “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. 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.”
However, it would be gratuitous to give England and Wales too much credit with Scotland having these measures in force since early September, and Northern Ireland for over a year. Moreover, abortion in England and Wales is still technically illegal - at any point in the pregnancy - under the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act (OAPA). Although the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990) outlines strict exemptions to the OAPA, the criminalised status of abortion continues to act as an infringement on reproductive rights and bodily autonomy for women across England and Wales. The exemptions dictate that any woman or pregnant person will be spared prosecution if two doctors agree that the continuation of the pregnancy would pose a greater risk to their physical or mental health than a termination.
Anyone who obtains an abortion after the 24-week point can face a penalty as harsh as a life sentence in prison. Exemptions exist, such as if the woman’s life is in danger or the foetus would be born with certain health conditions.
Safe access zones are just a small step on the long, winding path toward reproductive freedom for women. Enduring debate on the issue begs the question: will women’s bodies ever truly be free from legislative control?
Like clockwork, Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has given his opinion on abortion rights across the country. The former UKIP leader is known for sticking his nose in business that doesn’t quite concern him, and unsurprisingly here we are burdened with another second-rate Trump take on the issue. The MP for Clacton has called on Parliament to look at rolling back Britain’s abortion limit from 24 weeks, suggesting the current timeline is set too late and Parliament should be allowed more time to debate “things that people at home talk about.” His comments come after he was asked about the controversial assisted dying bill set to be implemented in the UK, which the Reform leader voted against. “Is 24 weeks right for abortion given that we now save babies at 22?” he said. “That to me would be worthy of a debate in parliament.”
Farage’s call for greater parliamentary debate on abortion timeliness comes alongside his statement with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) where he said: “the crackdown on free expression within the UK is becoming very sinister. Our police and Government now withhold vital public information, and we get censored simply for demanding the truth. I will continue to fight this.”
Much of his discussion on abortion seems to follow the Reform leader’s recent association with the US-based Christian legal group, which campaigns for abortion to be outlawed around the world. The ADF is an extreme, anti-abortion Christian legal advocacy group in the US closely associated with Republican efforts to strip away abortion rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people in the name of Christianity.
The government’s implementation of safe access zones around abortion clinics in England and Wales is a step in the right direction. But rising opposition to abortion access in the UK seems to suggest the fight for women’s reproductive freedoms is far from over.
Image: Flickr/UK Home Office
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