So-called buffer zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales are now in place.

Silent prayer, which has been a point of contention, is not an automatic offense but people who do it in the areas could face prosecution, according to new guidelines.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what the new zones are and the opposing views on the issue.

Known as “safe access zones” in the legislation, these are areas within 150 meters of a clinic or hospital providing abortion services.

Under the Public Order Act 2023, it is an offense for anyone in this area to do anything which, intentionally or recklessly, influences a person’s decision to seek services abortion services, obstructs them or causes harassment, alarm or distress to a person using or working in abortion services. local.

Anyone found guilty of such an offense is liable to an unlimited fine.

England and Wales.

Legislation creating buffer zones around abortion clinics in Scotland, banning any protests or vigils there, came into force last month.

In Northern Ireland, secure access areas at health centers providing abortion and birth control services have been in place since September 2023.

A similar measure is in force outside some clinics, but it was enacted by councils rather than national legislation.

Known as Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), the first in the UK was enacted by Ealing Council in west London in April 2018, outside the MSI Reproductive clinic Choices at Mattock Lane.

Campaigners have long argued for national legislation, arguing that PSPOs are dependent on the will of local councils, are time-limited, can be costly and result in a postcode lottery.

The bill – which overall aims to curb guerrilla tactics used by groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion – received royal assent on May 2, 2023 and became law.

But in December the then Conservative government launched a consultation on non-statutory guidance on the application of safe access zones.

These guidelines suggested that prayer in such an area “should not automatically be considered unlawful” and that silent prayer “is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998”.

Yes. Pro-choice campaigners argued the draft guidelines did not reflect the debate in Parliament.

In March 2023, MPs rejected attempts to allow silent prayer in the areas.

A group of Conservative and DUP MPs had tabled an amendment aimed at ensuring no offense is committed if a person “is engaged in consensual communication or silent prayer” outside clinics or hospitals providing abortion services .

They argued that this section of the bill “took us into thoughtcrime territory”, while one MP called it “dystopian”.

But in a free vote, the proposal was rejected by 116 votes to 299, a majority of 183.

Final guidance was never published following the consultation.

Laura Farris, the then Home Secretary, rejected, at a committee hearing in March, the idea that the government was trying to “water down” the legislation by allowing silent prayer, saying: “I think it’s about trying to judge where the line is between competing rights and obligations. And I think silent prayer is a difficult category in this regard.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has issued guidance to prosecutors stating that there is no defense on religious or ethical grounds for people seeking to influence, obstruct or cause harassment of others in areas safe access.

The guidelines refer to a 2022 Supreme Court decision regarding safe access zones in Northern Ireland, in which the court considered silent prayer to be among those acts “likely to fall within the scope of application of the legal provision”.

The guidelines state that “a person who carries out any of these activities in a safe access zone will not necessarily commit a criminal offence”.

He adds: “Prosecutors will need to consider not only all the facts and circumstances of a particular conduct, but also the context in which that conduct takes place. »

When reviewing cases, it states that prosecutors must clearly identify “the overt act that gives rise to the offense” and the evidence “from which the requisite intent or recklessness can be inferred.”

The College of Policing has published what it described as a “brief” for officers on section 9 of the law, which deals with safe access zones.

It states: “All decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis and must be balanced and proportionate to the circumstances. »

The Home Office said the guidance “will ensure clarity and consistency in the application of the new offence”.

The legislation does not require zones to be demarcated.

The person suspected of an offense does not need to know or believe that they are in a safe access area, the CPS guidance states.

It is understood that local police forces will work with clinics to decide whether signage demarcating areas would be helpful or not.

Activists have argued that not allowing silent prayer threatens their rights to freedom of expression and religious belief.

Right To Life UK said the zones would mean “vital practical support provided by volunteers outside of abortion clinics, which helps to provide real choice and offers help to women at risk of coercion , will be deleted.

The UK branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said the right to engage in silent prayer is “the most fundamental of human rights” and described the enactment of the buffer zones as “a watershed moment for British freedoms.

Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), welcomed the areas which, she said, “can’t come soon enough” after years of patients and clinic staff facing “anti-abortion fanatics standing outside clinics for hours.” » staring, distributing leaflets and displaying “graphic and distressing posters”.

Louise McCudden, of MSI Reproductive Choices, said the new zones will protect women and frontline healthcare workers, adding: “Whatever your personal views on abortion, no one should be harassed when accessing to health care. »

Yes. In October, ex-serviceman Adam Smith-Connor was found guilty of breaching the security zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

Poole Magistrates’ Court heard he stood near a tree with his head bowed and his hands clasped as he prayed silently, partially in view of the clinic, and refused to leave the area when a community worker who spoke to him asked him to do so. for one hour and 40 minutes.

He had denied breaching the PSPO but was found guilty, with a judge saying what he did was “deliberate”.

Smith-Connor was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay more than £9,000 in court costs and victim surcharge after legal proceedings brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council.

ADF UK said it was supporting Smith-Connor in her appeal against her conviction.

In February 2023, a Catholic priest accused the government of “censoring the streets of the UK” and attempting to criminalize silent prayer after being exonerated, claiming he had intimidated female service users near a clinic of abortion.

Charges of breaching a PSPO against father Sean Gough and charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce have been withdrawn at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

Father Gough and Ms Vaughan-Spruce criticized the decision to charge them for “praying in silence” and “praying for freedom of speech”, saying they had been “tried for praying in the censorship zone of ‘an abortion center’.