A west London council has unanimously voted in favour of creating a buffer zone around an abortion clinic to shield women from anti-abortion protesters, in a move that could pave the way for councils across the country to take similar action.

The radical move by Ealing council, which has said it wished to protect women from distress and intimidation at the Marie Stopes clinic, has been backed by high-profile politicians including Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn.

The council voted in favour of implementing a public spaces protection order (PSPO) around the clinic in a cabinet meeting late on Tuesday.

The Catholic anti-abortion Good Counsel Network has held regular protests outside the clinic, which have included handing women teddy bears and calling them “mum”. The group has denied harassing women going inside the clinic.

Anna Veglio-White, co-founder of the pro-choice organisation Sister Supporter, said women had been asked to pick pink or blue rosaries for the sex of their unborn child, priests had asked women to “give their child a birthday present”, and that women had been approached directly at the front of the clinic.

The unprecedented vote was taken after the council received more than 3,500 responses during a public consultation, which is the biggest single response to a consultation in Ealing ever, according to Labour councillor Binda Rai.



Mark Wiltshire, the director of safer communities and housing, addressed the meeting with the consultation’s findings, which showed that 81% of respondents had seen the concerning behaviours, while 83% had seen explicit imagery. Between 85% and 90% were supportive of the proposed PSPO. Rai noted that of those who responded to oppose the PSPO, only 6.6% actually had an Ealing postcode. In contrast, those who supported it were overwhelmingly local residents.

Following the meeting, the council leader, Julian Bell, said he felt the cabinet had done absolutely the right thing. He said: “I believe that this is something that’s long been needed, so it feels good that we are breaking the ground with this and leading the way. So I’m proud that we are doing it.

“I’m, personally, a practising Christian myself and so I think it’s important to recognise that this is about protecting women from harassment and intimidation. We’ve always been clear that that’s what this was about. It wasn’t a debate for or against abortion.”

Veglio-White said she was “completely elated” and said she hoped to see the move repeated across the country, while Elizabeth Howard, a representative for the anti-abortion campaigners, said: “It’s what we expected, after really what can only be described as a sham consultation by the council.”

The news has been welcomed by the sponsor of the original Abortion Act 1967, which legalised terminations in the UK, the Liberal Democrat Lord David Steel. Steel, now aged 81, commented: “This is very good news indeed. It is important that we do not go down the same road as America.”

Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central, said Steel’s private member’s bill 51 years ago had improved society for the better and welcomed his support for the campaign. She said: “Tonight’s decision is not about the length of time or number of weeks to set limits or any of that but rather keeping women safe who have decided to go through with that process. I am delighted that he has lent his support to this campaign”.

Quick guide Access to abortion across the UK Show Hide How does access to abortion vary across the UK? The 1967 Abortion Act legalised terminations in England, Wales and Scotland. It permits abortion for non-medical reasons up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and with the permission of two doctors. Abortion law was devolved to Holyrood as part of the Scotland Act 2016. The SNP has reaffirmed its commitment to ​current ​legal protections and to maintaining time limits in line with the rest of the UK. The 1967 ​​act does not extend to Northern Ireland. Abortion is legal in Northern Ireland only when the pregnancy poses a direct threat to the mother’s life. ​​An ​​amendment by the Labour MP Stella Creasy to allow Northern Irish women access to NHS-funded abortions in England was passed by Westminster in 2017. The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that regulations allowing Scottish health boards to provide abortion services to women from Northern Ireland would come into force at the beginning of November of that year. In July 2019, the UK parliament in Westminster voted to harmonise the laws on abortion and same-sex marriage across the whole of the UK if the Northern Ireland Assembly had not been restored by 21 October. On 3 October 2019, the high court in Belfast ruled that Northern Ireland’s strict abortion law breaches the UK’s human rights commitments.

The vote was welcomed by Richard Bentley, Marie Stopes UK managing director, who called it “landmark decision for women”. He added: “This was never about protest. It was about small groups of strangers choosing to gather by our entrance gates where they could harass and intimidate women and try to prevent them from accessing healthcare to which they are legally entitled.

“Ealing council has sent a clear message that this kind of behaviour should not be tolerated, and that these groups have no justification for trying to involve themselves in one of the most personal decisions a woman can make.”

Earlier Veglio-White told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme why her campaign group was fighting for the safe zone. She said: “There is a pavement counsellor at each gate so women cannot avoid them. The gate is narrow so they have to shuffle past … there is no choice but to walk past these people.

“The leaflets they hand out tell women they are going to get breast cancer if they have an abortion … These women are the most vulnerable and need to go to the clinic to speak to a trained counsellor.”

Clare McCullough of the Good Counsel Network denied that women were being harassed and said more than 500 women had turned around because of their efforts.

“These are women who have no alternative but abortion – illegal immigrants, victims of domestic violence. We’re telling them there are alternatives if they want them.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pro-choice campaigners outside the Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing, west London. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Huq said hate mail and foetus dolls had been sent to her parliamentary office after she raised the issue, and that the problem was one that needed a national not just local response.

“My interest in this matter predates me being an MP,” she said. “As a lifelong Ealing resident, I have noticed women seeking to use the Marie Stopes clinic in Mattock Lane being impeded in their wish to access services for the past two decades.

“Of course I value public protest, but intervention in a manner which might be termed emotional blackmail at this point – at the clinic gate, when vulnerable women are proceeding with what might be the most difficult decision of their lives – is not the time or place.”

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Over the past six months, authorities in Birmingham, Manchester, Portsmouth and two other London boroughs, Lambeth and Richmond, have also discussed taking action.

Manchester city council passed a motion to investigate intimidation and harassment outside the Marie Stopes clinic in Fallowfield; Birmingham city council discussed a similar motion in December, proposed by two Labour councillors.

More than 113 MPs have also signed a letter, coordinated by Huq, supporting the proposals, including Corbyn and the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, as well as prominent Conservative MPs including Michael Fabricant and Zac Goldsmith.