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Public Order Act 2023

Interference with access to or provision of abortion servicesE+W

9Offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion servicesE+W

(1)It is an offence for a person who is within a safe access zone to do an act with the intent of, or reckless as to whether it has the effect of—

(a)influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic,

(b)obstructing or impeding any person accessing, providing, or facilitating the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic, or

(c)causing harassment, alarm or distress to any person in connection with a decision to access, provide, or facilitate the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic,

where the person mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) is within the safe access zone for the abortion clinic.

(2)A “safe access zone” means an area which is within a boundary which is 150 metres from any part of an abortion clinic or any access point to any building or site that contains an abortion clinic and is—

(a)on or adjacent to a public highway or public right of way,

(b)in an open space to which the public has access,

(c)within the curtilage of an abortion clinic, or building or site which contains an abortion clinic, or

(d)in any location that is visible from a public highway, public right of way, open space to which the public have access, or the curtilage of an abortion clinic.

(3)No offence is committed under subsection (1) by—

(a)a person inside a dwelling where the person affected is also in that or another dwelling, or

(b)a person inside a building or site used as a place of worship where the person affected is also in that building or site.

(4)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine.

(5)Nothing in this section applies to—

(a)anything done in the course of providing, or facilitating the provision of, abortion services in an abortion clinic,

(b)anything done in the course of providing medical care within a regulated healthcare facility,

(c)any person or persons accompanying, with consent, a person or persons accessing, providing or facilitating the provision of, or attempting to access, provide or facilitate the provision of, abortion services, or

(d)the operation of a camera if its coverage of persons accessing or attempting to access an abortion clinic is incidental.

(6)In this section—

  • “abortion clinic” means—

    (a)

    a place approved for the purposes of section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967 by the Secretary of State under subsection (3) of that section, or

    (b)

    a hospital identified in a notification to the Chief Medical Officer under section 2(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in the current or previous calendar year, and published identifying it as such, where “current” or “previous” are references to the time at which an alleged offence under subsection (1) of this section takes place;

  • “abortion services” means any treatment for the termination of pregnancy;

  • “dwelling” has the same meaning as in section 1 of this Act (offence of locking on).

Commencement Information

I1S. 9 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 35(5)

I2S. 9 in force at 31.10.2024 by S.I. 2024/1050, reg. 2