Ban on anti-abortion protests at London clinic disproportionate, court hears

Jun 11, 2018 by Jill

by Dan Sabbagh, Guardian:

Council accused of infringing freedom of speech with ban at Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing.

An anti-abortion group seeking to overturn the UK’s only exclusion zone around a Marie Stopes clinic, in Ealing, west London, have told judges they believe the council’s actions amounted to an illegal discrimination against their right to free speech and peaceful protest.

Alasdair Henderson, a lawyer representing a woman who is a member of the Good Counsel Network, said that the ban on protesters from being within 100 metres of the clinic should be struck down because the effect on the anti-abortion group was “inherently disproportionate”.

The barrister told the high court that Ealing council’s public space protection order had “wide ramifications for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and other issues”. He said it particularly affected anti-abortion protesters such as his client, whose action amounted to “two or three people waiting outside quietly offering leaflets and praying”.

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