In order to find out more about what staff members experience at abortion clinics up and down the country I contacted Rachael Clarke, the public affairs and advocacy manager for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
Rachael spends a lot of time focusing on the importance of reproductive choice and enabling women to make the right choice for them regarding whether and when to have children.
Rachael explained to me that what happens at the clinic in Bournemouth is not an isolated incident and that clinics all across the UK are targeted by anti-abortion protesters.
She said that not only do BPAS clinics experience protests but also clinics run by other organisations such as Marie Stopes and NHS Hospitals and Doctors Surgeries.
I was told by Rachael that in the past year there have been around 40 places up and down the country affected by protests. She said:
"They go from being a number of people several days a week to being a group that turns up once a month to even being a relatively infrequent but large presence."
Rachael explained that they have seen an increase in 'pavement councillors' which are people who bring along leaflets and walk up and down the pavement outside clinics trying to stop women from going in and will also talk to them about what their opinions on abortion are.
Rachael said:
"They will say things such as, abortion causes breast cancer, it makes you suicidal and you won't be able to bond with your existing children. All of the things they say go agains all scientific and medical evidence and are frankly not true."
I was told that the aim of these protests is to ultimately stop abortion from happening. But the protesters don't only target the women going in but also the staff and staff member's family. Rachael said that a lot of staff talk about feeling very persecuted and targeted by the protesters.
You can hear Rachael talk more about the effect protesters have specifically on staff members in my finished documentary.
Kommentare