So-called buffer zones already exist outside abortion clinics in England and Wales.

Silent prayer, which has been a point of controversy, is not an automatic crime, but people who do it within the zones could be prosecuted, according to the new guidelines.

Here, the Palestinian Authority news agency analyzes what the new areas are and the opposing views on the issue.

Known as “safe access zones” in the legislation, they are areas within a 150 meter radius of a clinic or hospital that provides abortion services.

Under the Public Order Act 2023, it is an offense for anyone within this area to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them or causes harassment, alarm or distress to someone who uses or works at the facility.

Anyone found guilty of such an offense will face an unlimited fine.

England and Wales.

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

In Northern Ireland, safe access zones have been in place at health service centers offering abortion and birth control services since September 2023.

A similar measure has been in force outside some clinics, but has been enacted by councils, rather than being 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 Choices Clinic on Mattock Lane.

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

The bill, which broadly aims to curb guerrilla protest 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 implementation of safe access zones.

That guidance suggested that prayer within that zone “should not be automatically considered illegal”, and that silent prayer “is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998”.

Yes. Pro-choice campaigners argued that the draft guidance did not reflect the debate in Parliament.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 that no crime is committed if a person “engages in consensual communication or silent prayer” outside clinics or hospitals offering abortion services.

They argued that this section of the bill was “taking us into thought crime territory”, while one MP described it as “dystopian”.

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

The final guidance was never published after the consultation.

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

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published guidance for prosecutors stating that there is no defense on religious or ethical grounds for people attempting to influence, obstruct or cause harassment to others within safe access zones.

The guidance refers to a 2022 Supreme Court ruling on safe access zones in Northern Ireland, where the court found silent prayer to be among acts that “could come within the scope of the statutory provision”.

The guidance states that “a person carrying out any of these activities within a safe access zone will not necessarily commit a criminal offence.”

It adds: “Prosecutors must consider not only all the facts and circumstances of the particular conduct but also the context in which the conduct occurs.”

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

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

It says: “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 there is clarity and consistency in the application of the new offence”.

The legislation does not require that the zones be delimited.

A person suspected of a crime does not have to know or believe that they are in a safe access zone, CPS guidance states.

It is understood that local police forces will work with the clinics to decide whether signage marking the areas would be useful 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 will mean “vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics, which helps to provide genuine choice and offers help to women who may be experiencing coercion, will be removed”.

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

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

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

Yes. In October, ex-serviceman Adam Smith-Connor was convicted of trespassing the secure zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

Poole Magistrates Court heard he had stood near a tree, with his head bowed and hands clasped as he prayed silently, partially within sight of the clinic, and refused to leave the area when a community official who spoke with him he asked for it. for one hour and 40 minutes.

He denied breaching the PSPO but was found guilty and a judge said 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 surcharges following legal proceedings brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

ADF UK said it will support Smith-Connor with an appeal against his 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 cleared of charges that he intimidated service users near an abortion clinic.

Charges of breaching a PSPO brought against father Sean Gough and charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce were dropped during a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

Father Gough and Mrs Vaughan-Spruce criticized the decision to accuse them of “praying in silence” and “praying for freedom of expression”, saying they had been “on trial for praying in a censorship zone at an abortion centre”.