Buffer zones, referred to as “safe access zones”, were imposed in Northern Ireland last week. There have already been two arrests under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023.
Last Friday, September 29, buffer zones were introduced around abortion facilities in Northern Ireland, essentially banning all pro-life activity, now considered “harassment” by law.
On Tuesday, a man and a woman were arrested for breaching such a zone outside Causeway Hospital in County Londonderry.
SPUC’s Policy and Legal Officer, Liam Gibson, based in Northern Ireland, criticized the “safe access zone” as “a direct attack on civil rights guaranteed in both UK law and international law in human right.
“Criminalizing peaceful citizens, not for anti-social behavior but for wanting to exercise the right to express their religious and political views represents a serious threat to the civil rights of everyone in our society.”
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England has also seen several arrests of pro-life individuals charged with violating a buffer zone, notably Isabel Vaughan-Spruce who twice arrested for silent prayer outside an abortion facility in Birmingham.
British army veteran Adam Smith-Connor will also be going in November’s trial after he prayed for his dead son outside the BPAS facility in Bournemouth.
SPUC made a free one Buffer Zones Fact Sheet which provides an overview of the legal situation regarding the ban on pro-life activities near abortion facilities.
SPUC comments
A SPUC spokesman said: “The imposition of buffer zones in Northern Ireland is part of a wider campaign of intimidation aimed at persecuting and discrediting pro-lifers in the UK. The term ‘safe access zone’ is designed to create the impression that pro-life vigils present a danger to women. This is completely untrue.
“There is no evidence of harassment or intimidation at pro-life demonstrations. The introduction of buffer zones needs to be understood, instead, in the context of the growing intolerance of any opposition to abortion.
