Police have questioned an elderly man who flouted new laws aimed at stopping protesters from harassing women outside abortion clinics.

The man was spoken to by two police officers after reports he was praying outside the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne about 4pm.

Police question a man outside the East Melbourne fertility clinic on Monday. Credit:Penny Stephens

Laws passed last year making it illegal to harass people within 150-metres of abortion providers came into effect on Monday.

For the first time in 25 years, the group of anti-abortion protesters who have picketed the Wellington Parade abortion clinic six days a week were absent and women were able to enter the building without first being forced to run the gauntlet.