People in this country have a wide range of views on abortion. All viewpoints are legal to hold, and it is important that, as a nation, we are tolerant and respectful of others’ viewpoints. Indeed, it is a cornerstone of our democracy that people are free to gather and express their views, however uncomfortable they may be to others.
The Government have always been clear that rights to protest do not extend to the intimidation or harassment of others. Where protests do amount to that, we expect the police and local authorities to use their powers to deal with such cases.
The debates during the passage of the Public Order Act 2023 showed that many people have firmly held—but opposing—views about the merits of limiting the right to protest in order to enable women to freely access abortion services. There were concerns that the right to protest, freedom of expression and religious belief were being unjustifiably constrained. Meanwhile, others argued with equal passion that women accessing abortion services deserved greater protection from harassing or intimidatory protest.
After considering the debates, the Houses of Parliament voted to introduce legislation to prohibit certain activities within 150 metres of an abortion clinic or a hospital that provides abortion services—“safe access zones”.
The Government respect the will of Parliament, and we anticipate commencing section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 no later than spring 2024.[1]
We have considered what needs to be done to ensure that safe access zones can be implemented as effectively as possible, with law enforcement agencies having a clear and consistent understanding around enforcement, and abortion service providers and protestors being clear as to what is expected under the new law.
We believe the best way to do this would be through publishing non-statutory guidance prior to the commencement of section 9.
I recognise that this is new legislation, on an emotive topic, with strong views on all sides of the debate and that determining the appropriate balance between competing interests will not always be straightforward. The Government have therefore decided to launch a public consultation on the non-statutory guidance for safe access zones and welcome responses from all interested parties. Running a public consultation will help ensure that we produce guidance that reflects the policy intention of Parliament and provides a workable enforcement policy.
The public consultation will run for six weeks until 22 January 2024. A copy of the consultation will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on
www.gov.uk.As Home Secretary, I am committed to ensuring that women in England and Wales feel safe and protected while exercising their legal right to access abortion services and I am optimistic that this Government will facilitate the effective introduction of safe access zones.
I thank Members across the House for their engagement on this issue.
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