Legislation for safe access zones within 100m of healthcare facilities providing terminations to be approved

Safe access zones will be set up within 100m of facilities that provide termination of pregnancy services under plans due to be approved by Cabinet on Wednesday.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo seeking approval to legislate for the safe access zones which will include plans for a graduated system of penalties.

Under the proposed laws, anti-abortion protests will be prohibited with 100m of any facility that could be providing access to terminations, rather than just those that actually do so at present. This will effectively mean the introduction of exclusion zones around all hospitals, GP practices as well as other facilities such as Wellwoman and Irish Family Planning Association services.

Within the exclusion zones, any activity that is intended to influence the decision of a person either using the service or providing the service will be prohibited. This would mean, for example, that recent protests outside the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, where tiny white crosses and coffins were displayed, will be banned.

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In terms of penalties, it is understood that a graduated response is proposed, starting out with a warning from the Garda. Some offences can be prosecuted summarily in the District Court and more serious offences may be indictable before a judge and jury. Penalties could also escalate for repeat offences. The legislation will contain safeguards to make sure that only those who make an intentional decision to protest within a safe zone are criminalised.

For example, if a person is protesting in a location but they are unaware they are within 100m of a place providing access to termination services, they will be given a warning by gardaí and the opportunity to comply with the legislation, change their behaviour and avoid committing an offence. It is understood there will be exceptions for certain locations, such as the Dáil.

Mr Donnelly brought in a senior counsel to the Department of Health specifically to look at what changes could be made to the laws ahead of the drafting of the laws. He will tell the Cabinet that the prohibition is not on the right to protest, but on the exercise of that right within limited areas. It is understood that the department plans to engage directly with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and Irish Council for Civil Liberties, seeking any observations.

Mr Donnelly will also ask the Oireachtas Health Committee to schedule pre-legislative scrutiny of the proposed legislation as soon as possible, as the Government is keen to have the law passed by the end of the year.

There have been protests outside some maternity hospitals while a recent study reported that one in seven women who accessed or tried to access a termination of pregnancy had encountered anti-abortion activity. Previous anti-abortion protests saw a number of baby-sized coffins placed on the ground outside the NMH. On one occasion, anti-abortion graffiti was daubed on the walls of a GP premises in the midlands.