The Government has scrapped promised laws to introduce safe access zones outside maternity hospitals and clinics providing abortion services. The Department of Health has confirmed that it will rely on existing public order law to police any protests outside maternity hospitals or GP practices and has no current plans to introduce safe access zones. Calling on the Government to introduce safe access zones, she said: "It's important to put protections in place for what we know is a real risk to the physical and mental wellbeing of people seeking abortion." This meant safe access zones were not included in the main legislation which has allowed for abortion services since 2019. However, safe access zones have been successfully introduced in many other jurisdictions including in parts of the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.

Source: Irish Examiner August 07, 2021 05:47 UTC