It has been revealed that only 13 of 6,412 submissions to a public consultation were supportive of ‘exclusion zones’ banning prayer, witness and pro-life advocacy outside abortion centres in Northern Ireland. Despite such large-scale public opposition to the zones, the Committee decided to progress the Bill onto the next stage.
The North’s MLAs are now set to vote on whether to introduce the restrictive measure in the province today, Monday 14th March at “Further Consideration” stage. This is the second last stage before the Bill can become law. If passed today, it proceeds to “Final Stage” which is when the legislation gets passed into law or not. Ahead of the vote, pro-life groups have urged people to contact their politicians to ask them to oppose the ‘safe access zone’ Bill.
Issuing an appeal for prayer last night, pro-life organisation Precious Life said: “Please pray that the Bill is delayed and does not reach the Further Consideration stage on Monday, and goes no further before the Assembly is dissolved”.
The results of the public consultation revealed that just 0.2% of the 6,412 submissions received from members of the public supported the Bill. Despite this, MLAs voted last week to back the Bill by 58 to 28 votes at Consideration Stage.
The Bill would make it illegal to “influence[e] a [person seeking an abortion], whether directly or indirectly” within “safe access zones”, effectively making it illegal to offer assistance, advice or even to pray outside abortion centres and hospitals carrying out abortions in Northern Ireland.
A report on the consultation released by the Northern Ireland Assembly in January states: “Of the 6,412 submissions from individuals, the overwhelming majority stated their opposition to the Bill, with only thirteen submissions from individuals affirming their support”.
Precious Life slammed the Bill, stating: “Clare Bailey’s abortion zones are discriminatory as they would only target pro-life groups. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights – both protected under Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act.”
“Clare Bailey – and other pro-abortionists in SDLP, Sinn Fein, UUP, Alliance, and PeopleBeforeProfit – are hypocrites. They demand ‘safe access’ to abortion centres, but completely ignore the reality that babies are being killed inside these centres. The ultimate safe zone for unborn babies should be in their mothers’ wombs.”
A June 2021 poll undertaken by SavantaComRes showed that 75% of the Northern Irish population oppose the introduction of ‘buffer zones’ on specific clinics, as this Bill would permit.
‘PRO-LIFE’ MLAs VOTE IN FAVOUR OF EXCLUSION ZONES
To the disappointment of pro-lifers in the North, a majority of MLAs backed a bill to introduce exclusion zones around abortion centres, despite overwhelming public opposition.
Some self-declared ‘pro-life’ MLAs voted in favour of banning pro-life outreach and prayer when the Bill was passed at Second Stage in October 2021 by 58 votes to 29.
The SDLP once described itself to voters as a pro-life party, however, in recent years, embraced a more liberal approach, allowing members to take a stance in favour of abortion. In July 2020, one SDLP councillor left the party over its then-newly adopted conscience position on abortion.
While a number of Ulster Unionist MLAs are also self-proclaimed ‘pro-life’ MLAs who use that claim to court the pro-life vote in their constituencies at election time; yet no SDLP or Ulster Unionist MLAs actually opposed the Bill.
Both the DUP and TUV voiced their opposition to the Bill, arguing it could affect the right to protest and that such legislation was unwarranted. Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP and Ulster Unionist MLAs all voted in favour of the restrictive Bill.
The DUP and the TUV argued that the Bill is too vague and open-ended, while raising concern about those who hand out leaflets, hold banners or simply pray outside abortion centres being criminalised under such legislation. Both parties also acknowledged that current legislation already exists to deal with any incidents alleged by Clare Bailey.
DUP MLA, Jonathan Buckley, described the Bill as “regressive” saying: “Under the Bill, anything from a conversation to a leaflet would be deemed criminal. Notwithstanding whether such a definition would be enforceable in practice, that is an incredibly broad scope”.
TUV leader, Jim Allister, objected to the suggestion that “to oppose the Bill is to endorse harassment, abuse or violence. It is none of those things, and I absolutely throw back that slur, which has been cast at those of us who would dare to question the need for and the content of the Bill”.
58 MLAs who voted YES to the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill at Second Stage on 2nd March 2022:
| Pat Catney | SDLP |
| Mark Durkan | SDLP |
| Dolores Kelly | SDLP |
| Daniel McCrossan | SDLP |
| Patsy McGlone | SDLP |
| Colin McGrath | SDLP |
| Sinead McLaughlin | SDLP |
| Justin McNulty | SDLP |
| Nichola Mallon | SDLP |
| Matthew O’Toole | SDLP |
| Robin Swann | UUP |
| Steve Aiken | UUP |
| Andy Allen | UUP |
| Rosemary Barton | UUP |
| Doug Beattie | UUP |
| Robbie Butler | UUP |
| Alan Chambers | UUP |
| Mike Nesbitt | UUP |
| John Stewart | UUP |
| Kellie Armstrong | Alliance |
| John Blair | Alliance |
| Paula Bradshaw | Alliance |
| Stewart Dickson | Alliance |
| Naomi Long | Alliance |
| Chris Lyttle | Alliance |
| Andrew Muir | Alliance |
| Clare Bailey | Green |
| Rachel Woods | Green |
| Trevor Lunn | Independent |
| Claire Sugden | Independent |
| Gerry Carroll | People Before Profit Alliance |
| Cara Hunter | SDLP |
| Caoimhe Archibald | Sinn Féin |
| Cathal Boylan | Sinn Féin |
| Linda Dillon | Sinn Féin |
| Jemma Dolan | Sinn Féin |
| Sinéad Ennis | Sinn Féin |
| Órlaithí Flynn | Sinn Féin |
| Colm Gildernew | Sinn Féin |
| Declan Kearney | Sinn Féin |
| Gerry Kelly | Sinn Féin |
| Liz Kimmins | Sinn Féin |
| Declan McAleer | Sinn Féin |
| Fra McCann | Sinn Féin |
| Philip McGuigan | Sinn Féin |
| Maolíosa McHugh | Sinn Féin |
| Conor Murphy | Sinn Féin |
| Carál Ní Chuilín | Sinn Féin |
| John O’Dowd | Sinn Féin |
| Michelle O’Neill | Sinn Féin |
| Emma Rogan | Sinn Féin |
| Pat Sheehan | Sinn Féin |
| Emma Sheerin | Sinn Féin |
| Nicola Brogan | Sinn Féin |
| Pádraig Delargy | Sinn Féin |
| Ciara Ferguson | Sinn Féin |
| Deirdre Hargey | Sinn Féin |
| Áine Murphy | Sinn Féin |
The SDLP and the UUP have been contacted by Gript for comment.