10 Dec 2014

Heated row as anti-abortion protesters confronted again

Anti-abortion protesters are filmed being confronted by a local resident outside a London clinic, where a pregnant woman delivered a plea last week insisting they should stop “judging” women.

Pro-choice protesters turned out with banners saying “my body, my choice”, against campaign group Abort67, after Labour’s shadow home secretary called for buffer zones around the clinics in a bid to protect women.

Yvette Cooper said on Monday that she did not “want the kind of harassment and abuse that we’ve seen in the US imported in Britain”.

However, Lyndall Stein, who has visited the clinic for the past 14 years, told the anti-abortion activists that she did not want US-style “battlegrounds” appearing outside centres. “You’re trying to make choices about other people’s bodies,” she said.

Last week, a heavily pregnant woman castigated anti-abortion protesters telling them their actions are “so wrong”.

Watch: Pregnant woman confronts anti-abortion protesters on street

BPAS Director of External Affairs, Clare Murphy, told Channel 4 News, that the situation was causing a “great deal of stress” to the clinic at a time when women were already “extremely distressed”.

However, Andy Stephenson of protest group Abort 67, told Channel 4 News that activists had a right to film outside the clinics in order to “protect ourselves”.

The campaign group Abort67, which was started in 2008, has been confronting women going into the clinic with posters and leaflets showing pictures of foetuses. Abort67 has previously spoken about how their actions “empower” women.