A High Court in England has declared it lawful to criminalize prayer and Bible reading within a buffer zone around an abortion clinic, indicating that English law, despite the illegality of abortion outside the 1967 Abortion Act, seemingly acknowledges a “right” to abortion.
The ruling, handed down by Lord Justice Warby and Mrs. Justice Thornton, followed a legal challenge by Christian Concern and Livia Tossici-Bolt, a former clinical scientist who leads 40 Days for Life Bournemouth, who contested the legality of a 150-meter exclusion zone surrounding the British Pregnancy Advisory Group’s clinic on Ophir Road in Bournemouth.
This challenge heard before the High Court and supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the legal arm of Christian Concern, was focused on the Public Spaces Protection Order implemented by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in October 2022, Christian Concern said in a statement. The council’s decision, described by lawyers as resulting from an “unlawful” public consultation, was scrutinized through a statutory challenge and judicial review.