A British mother who chose life for her unborn baby because of sidewalk counselors plans to file a lawsuit this week against a new buffer zone in west London.
Earlier this month, the Ealing Council in west London unanimously approved the 100-meter (328 foot) buffer zone to prohibit pro-life outreach around a Marie Stopes abortion facility in the city. Those who violate the buffer zone could face fines or jail time.
It is the first of its kind in England, and abortion activists hope to pressure more cities to take similar action.
But Alina Dulgheriu, a pro-life sidewalk counselor with Be Here For Me, said the “draconian” buffer zone “criminalizes prayer” and prevents pro-lifers from giving out important information to women considering abortions.
The Huffington Post reports Dulgheriu plans to file a lawsuit with the High Court to challenge the buffer zone.
“My little girl is here today because of the real practical and emotional support that I was given by a group outside a Marie Stopes clinic,” she said. “I am launching my legal challenge at the High Court to ensure that all women at Ealing and across the country do not have a vital support option removed.”
Dulgheriu said she represents thousands of women and babies who have received help from pro-life advocates who stand outside the abortion facility.
“What sort of a society criminalizes charity that is wanted and welcomed by many? Britain has a reputation for being a liberal, caring society, but what is liberal or caring about censoring free speech, banning charity and ignoring women who need help?” she continued.
The buffer zone went into effect Monday, according to the Ealing Times. The Huffington Post reports police were outside to make sure no pro-lifers came within the restrictive 100-meter zone.
Abortion activists claim the buffer zone is necessary to protect women from harassment, but pro-life advocates with the Good Counsel Network said they have never harassed women and hundreds of people have accepted the information they provide.
Previously, Ealing pro-life advocate Clare McCullough told a local radio station a ban of pro-life vigils would support the business interests of the abortion facility, which has “lost about 13% of their clientele in the last year, that [GCN] have figures for.”
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Marie Stopes has a long record of dangerous health and safety violations, as well as allegations of giving staff incentives to sell abortions.
It has an egregious reputation, having botched nearly 400 abortions in a two-month period in 2017, according to the British Care Quality Commission. In 2016, inspectors found such horrible conditions that the British government temporarily shut down some of the abortion chain’s operations.
The Care Quality Commission found evidence that Marie Stopes also was pressuring women to have abortions by incentivizing staff with bonuses.
Interestingly, an inquest about a woman who died after aborting her unborn baby at the Ealing abortion facility also is happening this month. On Thursday, the inquest heard how the Ealing facility allegedly urged the woman to leave after her late-term abortion even though she was vomiting and swaying when she walked.
The woman, Aisha Chithira, 31, of Ireland, died later that evening of massive internal bleeding, The Evening Echo reports.
In addition, one of the Marie Stopes Australia facilities is facing a lawsuit after a woman said she almost died there from an abortion. The woman claims the abortionist failed to recognize that she had an ectopic pregnancy before the abortion. A few days later, the woman had to have emergency surgery because her fallopian tube ruptured and threatened her life, according to court documents.