Dozens of MPs are demanding Sajid Javid introduce exclusion zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales to prevent protesters from harassing women, ahead of a court case that could see the sole existing safety area scrapped.
Rupa Huq, who represents Ealing Central and Acton, accused the home secretary of sitting on a review started by his predecessor Amber Rudd, which she and 160 other MPs and peers from all parties believe could halt emotive anti-abortion protests that take place outside an estimated 42 clinics.
The Labour MP said evidence to the review had been submitted by interested groups in February. “I understand that he has a busy in-tray, but this could be an easy win for him early on in his career and massively improve the lives of women not only in the mainland UK, but in Northern Ireland and the Republic, who make daily journeys to clinics like that in my seat in Ealing,” Huq said.
Last month, Ealing council introduced the the first exclusion zone in England around a Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing, where 7,000 abortions are carried out a year, to stop continuous picketing by anti-abortion campaigners, who were at times opposed in the street by pro-choice demonstrators.
However, the legality of the council’s public spaces protection order is the subject of a legal challenge by two women linked to the Good Counsel Network, who say they provide “peaceful, prayerful witnesses which help hundreds of women to choose life every year”. The high court is due to hear the case next Thursday.
Several councils around the country, including Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Portsmouth, have passed motions in support of introducing exclusion areas and could do so if the Ealing zone is upheld. But campaigners say it would be better to implement a 100-metre (330ft) exclusion area around every clinic so the law is not uneven.
Anti-abortion campaigners have stood outside clinics holding up large signs showing images of aborted foetuses, while women entering and leaving clinics have complained of being filmed and handed false medical information.
But Clare McCullough, the director of the Good Counsel Network, wrote to Rudd in November to say that in Ealing, her group offered “a leaflet detailing help, support and alternatives to abortion” and ran a “witness against abortion” consisting of a small number of people “standing away from the abortion centre and praying quietly”.
Theresa May and her government have come under intense pressure over abortion in the aftermath of the Irish referendum result, with Conservative MPs demanding that Westminster force Northern Ireland to liberalise its restrictive laws.
Huq also complained that Javid had failed to reply to a cross-party letter sent to him three weeks ago, which was signed by about 150 MPs, including the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the Conservatives Sarah Wollaston and Ken Clarke. The letter called on Javid to commit to completing Rudd’s review and “move forward with finding a solution”.
When contacted by the Guardian about the letter, the Home Office said Javid was “committed to the in-depth assessment of protests outside abortion clinics” and work “is continuing”.
It was “completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated simply for exercising their legal right to healthcare, advice and treatment”, a spokesperson said.