Anti-abortion activists in Leeds have slammed passers-by who laugh at them for kneeling to pray outside a clinic, while they "harass" and preach at pregnant women visiting.
Christian parishioners have vowed to picket outside MSI Reproductive Choices Treatment Centre in Barrack Road, Sheepscar, for 40 days. They’ve been taking shifts to preach outside with their placards and hand leaflets to women entering.
The group has accused passers-by of trying to “intimidate” them by shouting, honking their horns and taking photographs of them. The anti-abortionists have been preaching outside the clinic since September 28 and vow to continue until November 6, as part of their ’40 Days For Life’ campaign.
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The clinic and pro-choice demonstrators have alleged the parishioners are “harassing and distressing” women who enter to use the service. Pro-choice demonstrators ‘Sister Supporter’ have also vowed to stand on the opposite side of the road to the clinic for the 40 days, to act as a “silent counter-presence” to support the women using the clinic.
Parishioner Irene Toth, 67 and a care assistant, describes herself as a “newcomer” to picketing although she has been doing it intermittently over the years. She explained that their movement take turns in shift patterns from 7am until 7pm, in two hour slots.
Irene said: “We do get a lot of people shouting at us and honking their horns, we just ignore it. They just shout abuse. They’re not happy that we’re here. It doesn’t upset me. Why should it? I believe in God and that’s it.
“Sometimes they take photographs of us and we don’t understand why, we’re not doing anything. We’re peaceful and calm. That’s trying to intimidate us, I think. Sometimes when we get down on our knees, they start laughing.”
The devout Christian is not a mother herself and explains that when they’re on their knees, they are “praying for a change of heart” from the service users.
Mother-of-two Magdalena, 51, who did not want her last name published, says she is also new to demonstrating and was out on her fourth picket. Magdalena did not comment on how her two children, 11 and 19, felt about this but warned “God is almighty and all powerful”, believing she was on a righteous cause.
Father-of-five Patrick O’Sulivan, 81 and a retired welder, says he stands outside in a bid to influence the pregnant women. He’s been doing it for many years.
Patrick said: “If they are conflicted, to show them there’s another way. If you go back to the 1960s, there was legislation, you could be fined or imprisoned for having abortions.”
Abortion was legalised in the UK in 1967, as long as specific criteria was met with registered practitioners and regulation from the NHS.
'Why aren't they doing it in church?'
Across the road, special needs teacher Alice Hoole, 31, and benefits advisor Jenny Lay, 21, were holding up signs reading ‘Your body, your choice’ and ‘Sister Supporter Leeds’, the name of their movement. The pro-choice group has 156 members on a WhatsApp group who are also taking it in turns to picket the clinic.
Alice said her group has the clinic’s blessing to demonstrate across the road, to act as a “counter presence” to the anti-abortionists. She believes women’s health gets “wrongly stigmatised and politicised”, she’s there to support women who will be further “distressed” by the parishioners’ actions.
Alice said: “It’s very intimidating for abortion clinic users, trying to preach to their views right outside the clinic. If you’re a service user and you’ve got people kneeling and praying outside, then it’s intimidating when you’re making a really hard decision.
“We’re standing here in silent opposition. These areas should be harassment free. We’d like people to be able to go in without people distressing them.”
Jenny said: “Women should be able to choose what they do with their bodies. Just being in the world, we’re all affected. In the society we live in, people don’t talk about abortion.”
Alice pointed out: “If their praying works, then why are they doing it outside a clinic? Why aren’t they doing it in church?”
Amanda Tierney, Operations Manager at MSI Reproductive Choices’ Leeds clinic, has said they’re advocating for a national ‘buffer zone’ outside clinics and have had discussions with Leeds City Council for speedier action outside the Barrack Road clinic.
Ms Tierney said: “We are a pro-choice country with relatively liberal laws, and the small but vocal minority that aggressively opposes abortion knows they are unlikely to ever achieve their goals of preventing abortion through legitimate democratic means.
“Instead, they resort to harassment, intimidation, misinformation, and manipulation. This simply isn’t acceptable.”
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