I felt intimated and scared to go into the clinic. I felt judged and uncomfortable. Not a nice feeling at all. If it was my first appointment I probably wouldn’t have come in. I had to phone a family member as I didn’t want to walk past. A lot of protestors, felt extremely intimidated & suffering from severe anxiety & depression already. These people do not help. I feel that they do not understand how hard it is to make this decision and their presence makes it so much harder. When arriving people were outside with signs it made me scared to come in and I was physically shaking. They shouldn’t be allowed to stand outside and people to be made to feel like this. Having leaflets shoved in my face disregarding a much-thought about decision and being told I’d be ‘prayed for’ is an invasion of privacy in my view tantamount to harassment I am in a total state, heart pounding. Total disgrace that someone has just started harassing me about abortion. Someone needs to stop this now. They left a poor girl in tears after speaking to her. I told them it was none of their business. This is extremely upsetting for everyone after having to make such a difficult decision.

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On a daily basis in the UK, women are filmed, followed and intimidated by anti-abortion protesters standing directly outside clinics. Women should be able to access legal healthcare free from intimidation and harassment. We believe we need specific legislation to ensure women can access pregnancy advice and abortion centres free from interference.

If you’d like to help us achieve this goal, please consider becoming a friend of bpas from as little as £2 per month:

The right to protest needs to be balanced with the right of pregnant women to obtain advice and treatment in confidence and free from intimidation. For those who wish to campaign to restrict women’s reproductive choices, there are plenty of opportunities and locations in which to do so. The space immediately outside clinics should not be one of them. Establishing protest-free zones outside centres would provide the reassurance and security women and healthcare staff need.

This campaign is led by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) and supported by dozens of organisations dedicated to the protection of women’s health and rights.

I had always heard of people protesting abortion clinics but never imagined that someone would use god and religion as a guise to confront me with judgement and intimidation. Making the choice to have an abortion is a very personal decision. It takes time and reflecting and weighing and exploring all of your options and coming to the best one for yourself and your family.