London: Court of appeal bid against protest-free buffer zone outside abortion clinic lost

The campaigners have lost a court of appeal bid challenging the protest-free buffer zone outside an abortion clinic in Ealing, west London. "Ealing Council's safe zone outside Marie Stopes Clinic on Mattock Lane stays in place after a further appeal of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was dismissed this morning," the council announced on its verified Twitter account.

Ealing Council's safe zone outside Marie Stopes Clinic on Mattock Lane stays in place after a further appeal of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was dismissed this morning. https://t.co/B4WDrXLvgq pic.twitter.com/WmKCPsHOmm

— EalingCouncil (@EalingCouncil) August 21, 2019

Three leading judges dismissed their appeal to reverse an earlier ruling which said restrictions imposed by Ealing Council on protests outside a Marie Stopes clinic were "justified".

Councillor Julian Bell, Leader of the council, said: "We're delighted the Court of Appeal has decided to keep our safe zone in place to clinic users and local people from harassment and intimidation. Since we introduced the zone in April 2018, it has been working well and we have seen a dramatic reduction in activities having a detrimental effect and there has been a significant improvement to the quality of lives of local people."

Councillor Joanna Camadoo-Rothwell, Ealing Council cabinet member for Community Safety and Inclusion, said: "It has taken a long time and a lot of effort to get this far but today's ruling will ensure that our community and clinic users continue to be protected by this order."

Since the safe zone has been in effect, the council's safer communities' team has seen the activities that were having a detrimental effect on clinic users and residents' quality of life around Marie Stopes subside. The clinic representatives reported an 'air of normality' has returned to the area and women are no longer arriving for their appointments distressed as the activities targeting the users have virtually disappeared.

Ealing Council became the first in the country to create a protest-free 'buffer zone' outside a Marie Stopes clinic in April 2018 following demonstrations.

According to media reports, Alina Dulgheriu, 35, and Andrea Orthova, who regularly attend a vigil run by the Good Counsel Network (GCN), mounted a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn the ban on protests directly outside the clinic.

At a hearing in London in July, their lawyers argued the ban interferes with their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief and freedom of assembly and association.

Lawyers for the two women previously told the court the PSPO "criminalizes acts of prayer" and said it was the "first time since the reign of Elizabeth I that public prayer has been subject to potential criminal sanction".