Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent protests outside healthcare facilities providing abortion care in England.

The existing laws give the police and local authorities the powers they need to deal with harmful protests, and the Government expects the police and local authorities to use their existing powers appropriately to deliver a locally-driven response.

Given the scale, frequency and nature of abortion-related protests, we believe that national buffer zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales would be disproportionate.

The Government is clear that it is unacceptable that patients seeking healthcare advice or staff working in healthcare facilities should feel intimidated or harassed.