Ealing Council will consult the public on an order to block pro-life protesters "emotionally hijacking" women using abortion clinics by telling them they would be "haunted by their dead baby" or "die of cancer" following a termination.

Pro-life "vigils" held at the Marie Stopes clinic in Mattock Lane had previously seen protesters call women accessing the service "murderers", hold placards covered in pictures of foetuses and throw holy water at them.

A consultation on a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was agreed by Ealing Council’s cabinet committee on Tuesday (January 16) after protesters refused to stop approaching women entering the abortion clinic.

Councillor Binda Rai, whose Walpole ward encompasses the Marie Stopes clinic, told the meeting: "We as a council have the duty to protect women from harassment and intimidation.

"Without this decision, we cannot take the next step to protect women from being emotionally hijacked at such a vulnerable point in their lives."

Model foetuses are often handed to women using the clinic's services

Councillor Ranjit Dheer, who also supported the PSPO report, said: "Harassing woman at the entrance, showing graphic images and shouting murderer at them - that is what people find most offensive.

"Is it necessary in the way (Good Counsel Network) offer their services to women? I say no."

In July last year, a 3,593-strong petition calling for the council introduce a "buffer zone" outside the clinic was submitted by pro-choice group, Sister Supporter.

Founder Anna Veglio-White said: "Without a PSPO, people using the service - and this is the best case scenario - will continue to be extremely upset and subsequently will carry unnecessary emotional trauma on an already difficult day.

"The worst case scenario is vulnerable people who are attending the clinic, including those who are homeless, undocumented, or in abusive relationships, may be coerced out of accessing Marie Stopes by a stranger with no medical training stood at the gate."

Sister Supporter members celebrated cabinet members' decision to open a public consultation on Tuesday (January 16)

The group, which formed in 2015 of Ealing residents, fear pro-life protesters could move on to targeting women in other boroughs if nearby councils don't follow Ealing's lead.

"We've already had death threats but now our biggest concern is this is just going to push people to other clinics," Ms Veglio-White told getwestlondon after the meeting.

"I don't think they're going to hang around Ealing town centre, I think they're going to go to other clinics. That's why we've been working with other boroughs, we don't want anyone else to experience that."

Despite the Labour Party cabinet members' green light for the eight-week consultation, which would halt people in Mattock Lane from approaching women, congregating in large groups, displaying distressing images and using amplification equipment, pro-lifers vowed to carry on holding vigils.

The protesters' prayers and hymns can be heard from inside the clinic

Clare McCullough, director of pro-life group Good Counsel Network, said: "It's most important to me no woman goes in there having an abortion she doesn't want because she feels she has no alternative.

"We'll continue offering our help to women locally and we'll work within the law to challenge any moves to stop us offering it."

The statutory public consultation on a potential PSPO will last eight weeks, starting Monday January 29, ending Monday March 26.

A decision on whether or not to implement a PSPO will only be made once the consultation process has been completed and it is known whether or not the statutory criteria are met, including whether a PSPO will be a necessary and proportionate response to the issues that have been identified.

Members of the public can submit their views on the PSPO by visiting the Ealing Council website .

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