Anti-abortion protesters spark outrage for ‘harassing’ women

Forty-five demonstrators gathered outside a north London clinic, reports Maya Oppenheim, making an ‘incredibly difficult day even more difficult for women’

Protesters from Helpers of God’s Precious Infants gather outside the clinic in the capital (British Pregnancy Advisory Service)

Anti-abortion protesters have sparked outrage for “harassing” women and accosting a passersby with small children outside an abortion clinic in north London.

The demonstrators, who are fervently opposed to women having pregnancies terminated, approached women in Finsbury Park repeatedly as they sought to get away and shouted to women that they “love” them.

British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UK’s largest abortion provider who arranged for a staff member to attend the protest, said 45 demonstrators were standing on the opposite side of the road facing the clinic.

Rachael Clarke, advocacy manager at the charity which provides terminations and pregnancy advice, told The Independent some of the women attending the abortion clinic looked “very upset” by the actions of the anti-abortion activists.

Ms Clarke, whose organisation is in favour of national “buffer zones” which would block anti-abortion protests outside clinics, said they were from a group called Helpers of God’s Precious Infants and were holding a 5ft picture of the Virgin Mary.

She added: “I think their behaviour is appalling. Some of them today were persistent. The only thing these protesters do is make an incredibly difficult day even more difficult for women.

“We know women leaving the clinic were being followed by protesters. Some of the protesters were harassing them. This kind of thing is organised street harassment. They are not there to change the law or the public view on abortion. The only thing they are there to do is to stop individual women from having abortions. The impact of protesters on women’s mental health is not something that should be taken lightly.

“Today upset quite a lot of the local residents. People were wondering why they were there and what they were doing. One man who was a protester got into an argument with a neighbour. We know one of the residents has been crying because she was so upset.”

The campaigner questioned why anti-abortion campaigners were approaching women who had already had abortions given their purpose is to stop such procedures taking place.

She noted there were an “increased number” of women who did not attend their appointments at the abortion clinic on Saturday – raising concerns this could be a direct result of the protesters’ presence.

This is the first major protest to take place outside this particular north London abortion clinic and it is not a facility which has a history of such problems, Ms Clarke added.

She said the demonstration was not an isolated incident and 44 abortion clinics in the UK have experienced anti-abortion protests in the last 18 months – adding that women who have abortions report their experience is made dramatically worse by protesters.

The government rejected calls for the introduction of “buffer zones” barring anti-abortion protests outside clinics across the UK in October 2018.

While abortion is legal in the UK, there are vast swathes of the world where the procedure continues to be criminalised, with abortion even illegal in instances of rape and incest.

In America, the Trump administration has emboldened a growing attack on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide in 1973, is endangered by an abortion case timetabled to come before the court in March.

The World Health Organisation estimates that each year between 5 per cent to 12 per cent of maternal deaths globally can be attributed to unsafe abortion – with the annual cost of treating major complications from unsafe abortion estimated at $553m (£435m).

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “We are aware of a protest taking place on Tollington Park, N4. If members of the public have concerns over the way the protest is being carried out, they should contact police by calling 101.”

A representative for the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants did not immediately respond to request for comment.