(LifeSiteNews) — Under draconian new laws, Northern Ireland is criminalizing peaceful men and women who pray, hold vigils, and distribute pro-life leaflets within 250 metres of an abortion center.
Since September 29, it has been deemed a criminal offence for people seeking an abortion to be “impeded, recorded, influenced or to be caused harassment, alarm or distress” within designated zones according to the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023. The penalty for an offence is a fine of up to £500.
The Department of Health have said safe access zones will include protected premises where abortions are provided, as well as adjoining public space between 100m and 250m from entrances or exits of the protected premises.
Under the conditions of the bill, it is an offence to influence “a protected person, whether directly or indirectly” while entering an abortion facility. According to the bill, “a protected person is a person attending protected premises for the purposes of accessing the treatment [sic], information, advice or counselling provided there.”
Precious Life, one of the largest pro-life groups in Northern Ireland condemned the new exclusion zones.
Precious Life Director Bernadette Smyth stated, “These zones have serious implication for the rights to free speech and assembly of ALL people. If pro-life prayer vigils can be banned and criminalized, then public speech, assembly or protest on any other issue can also be banned and criminalized. Free speech denied anywhere is a threat to free speech everywhere. We are urging people in Northern Ireland to lobby their MPs to seek clarity from the UK Home Secretary that prayer in any public space is still legal.”
Smyth defiantly added, “In a humane society, the safest place for a baby should be their mother’s womb. Precious Life will work to create ‘safe zones’ for all unborn babies and their mothers throughout Northern Ireland. We will not be deterred by these draconian exclusion zones. We will redouble our efforts in our public awareness campaigns to expose the horrific reality of what abortion does to an innocent baby in the womb, and the physical and emotional harm that abortion causes women.”
READ: UK Supreme Court upholds Northern Ireland buffer zone law in blow for pro-lifers
On September 2, in a letter to police forces in England and Wales, the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said that “silent prayer is not unlawful.” She told police officers that “holding lawful opinions, even if those opinions may offend others, is not a criminal offence.”
The Northern Ireland Assembly passed the Abortion Services and Safe Access Zones Act on March 24, 2022. However, the provocative Act was initially delayed from becoming law after the Attorney General in Northern Ireland intervened.
Attorney General for Northern Ireland Dame Brenda King considered that chastizing pro-life activists who intend to express their non-violent opposition to abortion was disproportionate.
In a statement, the Attorney General said she believed the new abortion law was “proportionate interference with the human rights of those who wish to express opposition to abortion services in Northern Ireland.”
Despite the Attorney General’s reasonable concerns regarding “legislative competence,” the Supreme Court decided on December 7, 2022, that the bill did not “disproportionately interfere” with protesters’ rights.
Irish News reported: “The Bill, which would make it an offence for a person to protest in a designated safe access zone, was deemed as “compatible” with the rights of protestors. Lord Reed, in delivering his judgement, told the Supreme Court that the restrictions of the clause were “proportionate,” “rational” and “necessary”.”
Green Party ex-leader Claire Bailey, who initiated motions for exclusion zones in Northern Ireland, shamefully called the Supreme Court’s unanimous judgement in criminalizing pro-life activists as the “Best Christmas present ever.” In 2022, Claire Bailey lost her South Belfast seat in Assembly elections.
There is clearly a sinister directive now to silence and criminalize non-threatening pro-life activists on both sides of the Irish border. In the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Parliament passed a second stage legislation to provide a legal basis for 100 metre exclusion zones near abortion facilities in the country on September 27.
Similarly in Scotland, plans are afoot to legislate exclusion zones with parliamentary discussions planned in the next few months. The proposed measures to prohibit pro-life protests has cross-party support at Holyrood.
Gillian Mackay (Scottish Greens) MSP for Central Scotland is behind a motion to introduce exclusion zones. She said, “I know that the parliamentary process is a long one. I am determined that we get it right and that we do it as quickly as possible.”
Northern Ireland’s abortion laws were passed in 2019 following legislation passed in Westminster during an absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland.
READ: US priest calls on Irish pro-life movement to rise up: ‘Repent for the sin of abortion’