Ealing Council set to vote on abortion clinic buffer zone

A west London council will vote on whether it will become the first in the country to create a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic to prevent patients from intimidation.

Ealing Council has been exploring a range of options on how to prevent "intimidation, harassment and distress" for women using the Marie Stopes clinic on Mattock Lane following a petition set up by local women.

Among the high-profile backers is the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who said "behaviour that seeks to deliberately target women for harassment and intimidation should not be tolerated".

A log book of entries by patients and staff catalogues some of the encounters which John Hansen Brevetti, clinical operations manager, said had been happening over three decades.

One entry read: "Police called due to aggressive protester a very upset client. Police attended had conversation with protester."

One patient was asked "Are you sure you want to kill your baby?" as she was trying to enter the centre, while another was shown plastic 10-week-old foetuses.

Another woman wrote: "I felt very traumatised seeing photos of babies' embryos outside of this clinic. The lady outside will not remove the photos and would not listen to my complaint. If there is any way you can remove these people/group from standing outside please make it happen. This is unacceptable and wrong."