On Sunday 3rd November I travelled to Streatham, South London to witness a procession and vigil outside a BPAS abortion clinic.
I arrived at the local church in Streatham at about 12:30pm where I saw a group of people gathering outside. I approached a man who appeared to be the leader of the group to ask if I was able to speak with the people there.
At first I was quite surprise by how unwilling the people were to speak with me. They expressed that they didn't wish to speak to a journalists and would not give any of their names.
After further explaining why I was there and what I was doing I was invited to follow the group on their march/procession up to abortion clinic where I was able to speak with a couple protesters anonymously.
In total there were around 30 to 35 people taking part in the vigil outside the clinic, including four monks and a priest.
On the march up to the clinic the pro-lifers were chanting and singing hymns - one man was also carrying a loud speaker and another carrying a large framed photo of 'Our Lady of Guadalupe', who is a Catholic symbol of the blessed Virgin Mary.
Each member of the procession had a 'hymn sheet' with the prays they were going to say
on them.
After about a 25 minute walk we arrived outside the clinic where the protesters formed a line on the opposite side of the road.
Here at the clinic they continued to sing and pray with multiple people taking to their knees. There were also a couple of protesters who started handing out leaflets to the people passing by.
The scene of the protesters attracted a lot of attention from the public due to it being situated on a busy road. There was also a large police van parked adjacent to the pro-lifers ready to intervene incase anything got out of control.
Neighbours also came out of their houses to see what was going on and all appeared to be troubled by the vigil. I spoke to one neighbour who did not wish to give his name but said:
"This happens a lot outside this clinic, and I'm still shocked with how in today's society there's still people who want to control what women can and can't do with their bodies."
You can hear more about what happened on the day in my documentary.
See below for pictures from the vigil.
Photographs by Grace Lewis
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