Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding a summit on the introduction of buffer zones outside abortion clinics.

The Home Office takes the matter of protesters outside abortion clinics extremely seriously and recognises the adverse impact that anti-abortion protests can have on patients and staff. We have conducted extensive reviews into these protests with the impact on women being at the centre of our consideration. We continue to welcome any new evidence on this important and sensitive issue, as we keep this matter under review.

We believe the police and local authorities have the necessary powers to provide appropriate local responses where there are harmful anti-abortion protests. Public Spaces Protection Orders have been implemented successfully to restrict harmful protests in Ealing, Richmond, and Manchester.