What are safe entry zones and is silent prayer prohibited?

So-called buffer zones have now been established outside abortion clinics in England and Wales.

Silent prayer, which has been a point of contention, is not an automatic violation, but people who do so within the zones could be liable for prosecution under new guidelines.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what the new zones are and the opposing views on the issue.

In legislation they are known as ‘safe access zones’. These are areas within 150 meters of a clinic or hospital that offers abortion services.

Under the Public Order Act 2023, it is an offense for any person within this area to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences or hinders any person’s decision to access abortion services, or causes harassment, alarm or anxiety to any person who uses or works at the abortion service. terrain.

Anyone found guilty of such a crime faces an unlimited fine.

England and Wales.

Legislation creating buffer zones around abortion clinics in Scotland and banning protests or vigils there came into force last month.

In Northern Ireland, safe access zones have existed at healthcare locations providing abortion and contraceptive services since September 2023.

A similar measure has been in place outside some clinics, but these have been set by councils, rather than national legislation.

Known as Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), the first in Britain was issued in April 2018 by Ealing Council in west London, outside the MSI Reproductive Choices Clinic in Mattock Lane.

Campaigners have long argued for the need for national legislation, arguing that PSPOs are dependent on the willingness of local councils, are time-sensitive, can be expensive and could result in a postcode lottery.

The bill – which overall aims to curb guerrilla protest tactics used by groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion – received royal assent on May 2, 2023 and became law.

But in December, the then Conservative government launched a consultation on non-legal guidelines around the enforcement of the safe access zones.

Those guidelines suggested that prayer within such a zone “should not automatically be regarded as unlawful”, and that silent prayer “is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998”.

Yes. Pro-choice activists argued that the draft guidelines did not reflect the debate in Parliament.

MPs had rejected attempts in March 2023 to allow silent prayer in the zones.

A group of Tory and DUP MPs had tabled an amendment to ensure that no offense is committed if someone “engages in consensual communication or in silent prayer” outside clinics or hospitals offering abortion services.

They argued that this part of the bill was “leading us into thoughtcrime territory”, with one MP describing it as “dystopian”.

But in a free vote the proposal was rejected by 116 votes to 299 – a majority of 183.

After the consultation, the final guidelines were never published.

Then-Home Secretary Laura Farris rejected the idea at a committee hearing in March that the government was trying to “water down” the legislation by allowing silent prayer, saying: “I think it is trying to assess where the line is between competing rights and obligations. And I think silent prayer is a difficult category in that.”

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published guidance for prosecutors stating that there is no defense on religious or ethical grounds for people who attempt to influence, obstruct or intimidate others within safe access zones.

The guidelines refer to a 2022 High Court decision on safe access zones in Northern Ireland, where the court considered silent prayer among the acts that could “fall within the scope of the statutory provision”.

The guidance states that “a person carrying out any of these activities within a safe access zone will not necessarily commit a criminal offence”.

It adds: “Prosecutors will need to consider not only all the facts and circumstances of the specific conduct, but also the context in which the conduct occurs.”

When assessing cases, the report states that prosecutors must clearly identify “the overt act giving rise to the offence” and evidence “from which the requisite intent or recklessness can be inferred”.

The College of Policing has published a so-called “briefing” for officers on Article 9 of the law, which deals with safe access zones.

It states: “All decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis and must be balanced and proportionate to the circumstances.”

The Home Office said the guidelines will “ensure there is clarity and consistency in the enforcement of the new offence”.

There is no obligation within the legislation to demarcate the zones.

The person suspected of an offense does not need to know or believe they are in a safe entry zone, the CPS guidance says.

It is understood that local police forces will work with clinics to decide whether signage marking the zones would be useful or not.

Campaigners have argued that not allowing silent prayer threatens their rights to freedom of expression and religious belief.

Right To Life UK said the zones will mean that “vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics, which helps to provide real choice and support to women who may be experiencing coercion, will be removed”.

The British branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said the right to engage in silent prayer is “the most fundamental of human rights” and described the introduction of the buffer zones as “a turning point for British freedoms”.

Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the UK’s Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), welcomed the zones which, she said, “can’t come soon enough” after years of patients and staff in clinics dealing with “anti-abortion zealots who spend hours outside the clinics were standing”. staring, handing out leaflets and displaying “graphic and disturbing posters”.

Louise McCudden, from MSI Reproductive Choices, said the new zones will protect women and frontline health workers, adding: “Whatever your personal views on abortion, no one should be harassed while accessing healthcare.”

Yes. In October, ex-soldier Adam Smith-Connor was convicted of breaching the safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

Poole Magistrates’ Court heard he had been standing by a tree, with his head bowed and hands folded as he prayed silently, partially within view of the clinic, and refused to leave the area when asked to do so by a community officer. for one hour and 40 minutes.

He had denied breaching the PSPO but was found guilty. A judge said what he did was “intentional.”

Smith-Connor was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay more than £9,000 in court costs and victim surcharge following the court proceedings brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

ADF UK said it is supporting Smith-Connor with an appeal against his conviction.

In February 2023, a Catholic priest accused the government of ‘censoring the streets of Britain’ and trying to criminalize silent prayer after he was acquitted of charges alleging he had intimidated service users near an abortion clinic .

Charges of failing to comply with a PSPO laid against Fr Sean Gough and charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce were withdrawn at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

Father Gough and Mrs Vaughan-Spruce criticized the decision to accuse them of ‘praying in silence’ and ‘praying for freedom of expression’. They said they were “tried for praying in a censorship zone of an abortion facility.”