A decision on whether to ban protestors who have harassed patients outside a South Liverpool abortion clinic has been delayed.
It had been expected that a trio of Liverpool Council members would take a decision tomorrow on whether to adopt a public space protection order (PSPO) around the British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS) Merseyside clinic in Aigburth following a consultation on anti-social behaviour outside the centre. However, a meeting of the authority’s highways and public spaces representations committee has been postponed as more information on the proposals is being sought.
Since early 2020, Liverpool Council in conjunction with colleagues from Merseyside Police, have been investigating concerns raised about behaviours associated with individuals and represented groups involved in protests and vigils outside the clinic in South Liverpool.
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By law, anyone has the right to access abortion care. However, the local authority has received what it described as “numerous reports” from residents, individuals, organisations and elected members about anti-social behaviour from those “expressing disapproval of people accessing abortion services.”
The plans for a PSPO have been backed by St Michael’s ward councillors Tom Crone, Anna Key and Stephanie Pitchers. Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell had also supported the move.
According to the documents alongside the proposed order, protestors have harassed patients for “several years” by branding them murderers, handing out plastic foetuses, impeding those attempting to enter the clinic and surrounding cars. The report said: “This has caused those trying to access lawful healthcare at the clinic to say they feel intimidated, scared, distressed, anxious, judged, uncomfortable, angry, guilty and in one reported incident so affected by the actions of the protestors physically sick.”
Reports of anti-social behaviour have been received throughout the year but increase in intensity during the “40 Days for Life” periods that take place annually in March/April and October/November, it was said. A witness statement from Merseyside Police Sergeant Maggie Howard said the PSPO would create a “buffer zone” around Parkfield Road with a restricted area beginning at the junction of Ullet Road, ending at the junction of Aigburth Road.
Sgt Howard also detailed 17 occasions between September 2020 and October last year when protestors had gathered outside the clinic, including on October 16, 2021, when one shouted at a patient “don’t kill god’s child murderer, we will pray for you”. One of the individuals targeted by protestors was 17 years old, according to documents alongside the report, and said it left her “upset and ashamed”.
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