LONDON (AP) — British ban on outdoor protests abortion The clinics went into effect Thursday, although that leaves a question mark over whether anti-abortion protesters who pray silently are breaking the law.

The law, which applies to England and Wales, prohibits protests within 150 meters (164 yards) of clinics. Scotland and Northern Ireland, which develop their own health policies, recently adopted similar bans.

The new rules make it an offense to obstruct a person using abortion services, “intentionally or recklessly” influence their decision, or cause “harassment, alarm or distress”. Violators face an unlimited fine.

The buffer zone rule was adopted 18 months ago under the previous Conservative government. Public order lawbut debates over whether the measure would apply to silent prayer demonstrations and the change of government in July delayed its taking effect.

The Crown Prosecution Service says silent prayer near an abortion clinic “does not necessarily constitute a criminal offence”, and police say they will assess each case individually.

Anti-abortion activists and religious groups say banning silent prayer protests would be an affront to religious freedom. But pro-choice activists say silent anti-abortion protesters are often intimidating toward women entering clinics.

“It’s hard to imagine how someone who chooses to perform their prayers right in front of an abortion clinic could claim that they are not trying to influence people – and there are countless testimonies from women who say “that makes them anxious,” said UK official Louise McCudden. of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, one of Britain’s largest abortion providers.

In March 2023, lawmakers rejected a change in legislation proposed by some conservative lawmakers that would have explicitly allowed silent prayer in buffer zones. The final rules are a potentially complicated compromise that will likely be tested in court.

Crime and Policing Minister Diana Johnson said she was “confident that the safeguards we have put in place today will have a real impact in helping women feel safer and empowered to access vital services they need.

But Bishop John Sherrington, of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said the government had taken an “unnecessary and disproportionate step backwards” on religious freedom.

“Religious freedom includes the right to manifest one’s private beliefs in public through testimony, prayer and charitable actions, including outside of abortion centers,” he said.

Abortion is not as controversial an issue in the UK as it is in the US, where women’s access to abortion has been reduced, or even banned in some states, since the Supreme Court. overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.

Abortion was partially legalized in Britain by the Abortion Act 1967, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy if two doctors approve it. Later abortions are permitted in certain circumstances, including cases of danger to the mother’s life.

But women who abort after 24 weeks in England and Wales can be prosecuted under the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861. Last year, a 45-year-old woman in England was sentenced to 28 months in prison for ordering abortion pills online to induce a miscarriage when she was 32 to 34 weeks pregnant. After an outcry, his sentence was reduced.