Apart from the fact that this would open the way for authorities to repress Christian street preachers, this amendment means that prayer or any kind of help inside the “buffer zones” could lead to an up to two-year jail sentence. Laws like this already exist in Northern Ireland since March, and will also be a reality in Scotland in the near future.

Earlier in May 2022, former Labour MP (now independent after being suspended from the party), Dr Rupa Huq, introduced an amendment to the controversial Public Order Bill that would criminalize interfering with anyone seeking an abortion within a 150-meter “buffer zone” from an abortion clinic.

The amendment was finally withdrawn and not taken to vote, but once again in September Dr Huq included the amendment in the list of the proposed amendments it is likely to be brought back later this year to vote.

Laws like this already exist in Northern Ireland since March, and will also be a reality in Scotland in the near future. In England, several local authorities already mandate censorship around clinics through Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs).

Source: bills.parliament.uk