An Abortion Rights protest against the ‘March for Life’ in London earlier this month (Picture: Guy Smallman)
“Buffer zones” are coming to an abortion clinic near you. Jess Philips, the safeguarding minister, has said legislation to create a 150-metre protest-free zone outside abortion clinics would come into place on 31 October.
“We will not sit back and tolerate harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to healthcare,” she said. “It’s why we have fast-tracked this measure to get it up and running without further delay.
The legislation is aimed at crowds of vicious anti-choice bigots, who harass and intimidate health workers and women having abortions. They claim to just be offering guidance and counselling.
Sometimes their defence—in court and in the streets—is to say that their protests are simply an expression of their religious beliefs.
But it’s not really about religion. It’s about trying to control women’s bodies and choices. And, because the pro-choice majority in Britain is so overwhelming, the bigots protest outside clinics to try to stop abortions.
A YouGov poll from October 2023 shows that 87 percent of people support abortion rights. Instead of wanting to weaken abortion rights, the majority of people actually want a woman’s right to choose better protected in law.
The same poll showed some three quarters of people support changing the law to enshrine a legal right to abortion.
It’s completely understandable that service providers and activists want to make it as safe as possible for women to have abortions. They have fought for buffer zones on this basis.
But buffer zone legislation is unlikely to really tackle intimidation and harassment. Firstly, the zone will knock back protesters 150 metres, where they will still be able to abuse and threaten service users and workers.
Secondly, ambiguities in the legislation mean that some bigots may be able to stay inside the buffer zone. For instance, it’s unclear if the courts will interpret “silent prayer” as a protest. The bigots might be allowed to stage a “silent prayer” outside the clinic doors—while pro-choice activists are forced to remain at a distance of 150 metres.
Another issue with the buffer zone legislation is that it looks to the state as an institution that will protect women.
But the state is institutionally sexist—and it isn’t accountable or on our side. The state likes to use legislation to clamp down on protests. It’s never a step forward to give police and the courts more excuses to arrest, fine or imprison people.
The cops are desperate to have more laws to stop or curtail protests. For instance, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022 means the cops can now impose start and finish times on protests and set noise limits.
The state pushed it through parliament amid the protests that erupted in the wake of the police murder of Sarah Everard.
The Tories had drafted the law to clamp down on Extinction Rebellion protests, but the state will use it against Palestine activists, striking workers and others. Who’s to say that the “buffer zone” legislation won’t be used against striking workers mounting a picket line outside a hospital where there’s an abortion clinic?
In the hands of a racist, sexist and unaccountable state committed to protecting the system, we can’t trust the laws to only target the bigots we oppose.
When the then-home secretary Theresa May banned the fascist English Defence League from marching through east London in 2011, many rejoiced. But within a blink of an eye, May extended the ban to all protests in the area—which included an anti-fascist mobilisation.
Such bans make it harder to build support for the type of resistance that’s going to win out against reactionaries of any religious or political hue.
The real way to beat back the bigots is to transform the support for abortion rights into a combative pro-choice movement.
We need mass numbers, not a reliance on the state. Trade union banners could cover the sexists’ vile posters and pro-choice megaphone chants could drown out the abuse from reactionaries. Building our side is the only way to take them on decisively.
Learn from mistakes of Corbynism
Build for the Palestine national demonstration on 10 October
