Ireland votes for abortion clinic buffer zones

The Irish Lower House of Parliament has voted for the creation of buffer zones around healthcare facilities which carry out abortions.

Dubhaltach O Reachtnin November 17, 2023

The public spaces within 100 metres of abortion providing facilities are to be free from any type of activity that may be construed as seeking to influence or interfere in any way with a woman’s intention to have an abortion. 

The Bill in the Irish Parliament was passed by 117 votes to 10, backed by claims from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties that there is public support for the restrictions. 

The Bill, called the Health (Termination of Pregancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023, follows similar measures that will be imposed throughout England and Wales early next year following a vote in the Westminster Parliament.

When introduced by local councils in England, such restrictions have led to the arrests of people for “thought crimes, after police asked bystanders in the vicinity of abortion clinics if they were praying privately in their minds.

The Irish bill seeks to prohibit the obstructing or impeding someone, intimidating or threatening someone, filming or recording someone, with an intent to influence “a person in relation to availing of, or providing, termination of pregnancy services, or being reckless as to whether such a decision is thereby so influenced”. 

The type of communication prohibitions are detailed as: “(a) displays, publishes, distributes or disseminates the material, (b) shows or plays the material, or (c) makes the material available in any other way including through the use of an information system” which would seem to suggest that silent (or non-silent) prayer would not be prohibited. 

However the Bill also includes a prohibition with 100m of “otherwise engaging in conduct directed at the public or a section of the public in a manner that is likely to influence the decision of a person in relation to availing of, or providing, termination of pregnancy services, with intent to influence the decision of such a person in relation to availing of, or providing, termination of pregnancy services, or being reckless as to whether such a decision is thereby so influenced”.

The interpretation of this subsection is likely to, if not immediately, include such actions as prayer, both silent and non-silent, and whether intentionally directed or prayer that may have been carried out “recklessly” and interpreted as having had some form of impact on a person with the intention of accessing an abortion. 

The Bill also provides power to the Gardai (Irish police) to look into the future, if they have cause to believe someone may be about to embark on a prohibited practice and to warn said person that they risk arrest if they continue with their intention of carrying out a prohibited act.

In theory, and following the logic of interpretation in the UK, carrying a rosary in the direction of a so-called Safe Access Zone may attract the intimidating interventions of the police. 

The Bill also refers to churches that fall within the buffer zones. In Dublin, where the zones are likely to cover half the city, most churches will fall within them, particularly as churches and healthcare facilities are often located within the same area. 

The Bill states that “nothing in section 2(2) (communicating and engaging) shall prohibit a person from engaging in lawful conduct that occurs inside a place of religious worship”.

For clarity, the Bill says the “place of religious worship” means a building but “does not include the grounds or other land associated with the building”. 

It means that any materials that could be construed as influencing someone attending for abortion services, and potentially prayers, on a Church grounds would be unlawful also. 

While the Catholic Church did not make a submission on the Bill, the Presbyterian Church of Ireland raised concerns about activities of worship that take place in non-Church grounds, and also whether the legislation might prevent a place of worship from publicly displaying biblical texts on its exterior grounds which refer specifically to life before birth. 

While only a small number of elected representatives opposed the Bill, they were forthright in their opposition.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath said the Bill “is repugnant to the Constitution, and is certainly repugnant to me and my values”.

Aontu leader, Peadar Toibin said: “I am concerned this Bill starts to eliminate spaces where people can respectfully and peacefully protest about these issues.

“The idea that we have a society that is looking in numerous places to get rid of public protest is very dangerous”.

It is unclear who the Annual March for Life, that has attracted tens of thousands people will be able to navigate its way around the safe access zones, of if indeed it is physically possible to do so.

https://catholicherald.co.uk/ireland-votes-for-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones/