It is sad to learn that Richmond Borough Council has recently followed Ealing Council in approving an exclusion zone around an abortion clinic. Last year Ealing Council used a Public Space Protection Order to prevent pro-life supporters from approaching people or praying within 200 metres of a Marie Stopes Clinic. In neither case has there been any evidence of harassment. The testimony of mothers who were helped to keep their babies rather than abort them was also disregarded.
Why are these Councils so frightened of these peaceful pro-life prayer vigils? One answer might be that the witness offered by those committed to the pro-life cause makes those running the clinics profoundly uneasy at what they are doing. Despite the legality of abortion it continues to raise high emotion on both sides of the argument because so much is at stake – indeed, the choice between life and death. The dissensions over Brexit pale into insignificance by comparison.
