Public Order Bill

Written evidence submitted by Mr Damien Fitzgerald and others (re: reject new Clause 1) (POB01)

Dear Committee,

• Buffer zones deny last-minute help to women, including those who feel pressured or have been coerced into having an abortion.

• Peaceful pro-life vigils are not "protests".

• Pro-lifers at peaceful vigils do not behave in a harassing or intimidating manner. They are simply praying and making it clear that help is available.

• Many children are alive today because their mother met a loving pro-life person directly outside the abortion clinic – where desperate women most need help.

• New Clause 1 is an attack on freedom of expression.

• In 2018 the Home Office did an extensive review on vigils around abortion clinics and concluded that "introducing national buffer zones would not be a proportionate response, considering the experiences of the majority of hospitals and clinics, and considering that the majority of activities are more passive in nature".

• Praying and offering help to women who do not want to go ahead with their abortion should not be tacked onto this bill and made a criminal offence.

Mr Damien Fitzgerald

May 2022

We've also received identical or similar evidence on this matter from:

• Mrs Laura Wyness
• Martin McCallum
• Greig Thomson
• Guy Ross
• Susan Fryer
• Rev. Vic Ready
• Alicja Young
• Patricia Monaghan
• Sarah Cox
• Miss Maria Stanton
• Dr Charles Soper
• Nathan Davey
• Michael Ryan
• John GW
• Cristina Toth
• Myrtle Basharan
• Angie Stone
• Fredrik Magnusson
• Maureen Martin
• Daniel McClorey
• Peter Brand
• Robert Matthias
• John Mutch
• Kathleen Linton-Ford
• Lee Vincent
• Mrs Patricia Cook
• Martin Boothman
• Reverend Steven Hanna
• Dr Denis Hayes
• Loretta Costello
• Christine Kelly
• Mrs Francis Phillips
• Sheila Rafferty
• Bernadette Blackburn
• David Page
• Mrs Louise Gray
• Elizabeth Walters
• Patrick McCarron
• Mr Philip Wood
• Revd Iain & Revd Fatimah Murray
• Sharon Trainer
• Bernadine Emery
• Mr and Mrs M Coyle
• Garry Cockrill
• Joseph Biddulph
• Stuart Gregory
• Mrs Carol Ann Russell
• Miss Betheny Grantham
• Andrew Fraser
• Kathleen Baptie
• Mr Martyn Baker
• Paul Dyson
• Alan Ward
• Brenda Butler
• Mrs Rosalyn Wilson
• Haydn Jones
• Masha Woollard
• Elaine Williams
• Mark McNally
• Graham and Christine Duke
• Elizabeth Childs-Clarke
• K Lorraine Clark
• Stephanie Pyne
• Panna
• Mrs Wendy Nutley
• Mrs Ann Farmer
• Simon Slater
• Edward oliver george Parry brown
• Wesley Peacock
• Harry White
• Bernard Cartwright
• Sebastian Pinder
• Pete and Sharon Jackson
• Mrs M Cole
• Jessica Anne Chesterton
• James Graham Corscadden
• William Flynn
• Janet O'Neill
• Angela Ireland
• Steve Begarnie
• Tony Hammond
• VP Lewis
• Joseph Slate
• Jadwiga Vonk-Ladomirska
• Mrs Julia Edwards
• Anne Nelson
• Paul D Cullen
• Mary Gray
• Mrs Lisa Gliddon
• Andrew Spencer
• Charlie Arbuthnot
• Jennifer Moorcroft
• Miss Francesca M Flynn
• Dennis Pedley
• Virginia Bell
• Penny Pearce
• Dr Anthony and Dr Elizabeth Nash
• Mr Ben Gill
• Mr JAC Payne
• John Higgins
• John Burnett
• Patrick England
• Mr Gerard Stevenson
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• Kate Wynne
• Ellen Wynne
• Mr and Mrs Rechten
• Adrian Woollen
• Irene Munro
• Brian and Patricia Davis
• William Brooke
• Angela Gradoni
• Anne Knight
• Andrew Ashcroft
• Ernest Mann
• Steve Judge
• Julian Townsend
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• Mrs Janet Walch
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• Carrie Hammond
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• Caroline O'Neill
• Ian Marshall
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• Dr Roy Fidge
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• Jacky Mattam
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• Stuart Holden
• John White
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• Mrs Pauline Brice
• John Holleran
• Ian Smith
• Krystina Johnson
• Mr William Currie
• John Jackson
• Chris Thorogood
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• William Astor
• Stuart Johnston
• Matthew Showering
• Marie Lennon
• Mrs Miriam Morgan
• Robert Sellwood
• Kieran Dunne
• Madeleine Yates
• Carlos da Silva
• Phillip Maxfield
• Michael Doherty
• Richard Simpson
• Jean Lord
• Edward Kevin O'Hara
• L Clarke
• Fosca and Paul Gorman
• Catherine Parnell
• Kevin Prendergast
• Sally and Peter Jones
• Rev Simon Tomkins
• Wendy Lim
• Mrs Roksana Drycz and Mr Matthew Drycz
• Mrs Bernadette Horrocks
• Damien Gilmartin
• Mrs N Tratalos
• Mrs Penelope Uys
• Derek Malcolm
• Mark Pickles MBE
• Lindsay Watkins
• Rod Henry
• Sophia Murphy
• John O'Neill
• Chris Leather
• Mrs P Williamson
• Mrs Sheila McLeod
• Ken Rotter
• Adrian Bickers
• Sr. Marie Heath
• Madeleine Roy
• Sonja Clack
• Dr D A Cunningham
• David Harding
• Helen Watt
• Fr Michael Puljic
• Helen Martin
• Michael James Gilfedder
• David Melville
• George McKean
• Helen Savelli
• Stephanie Nixon
• Monica Barnham
• Mrs Irene Wells
• Paul Dickson
• Mrs C A Reilly
• Mrs Eileen Adams
• Martin McDonnell
• Denise Hawker
• Paul Roche
• Father Patrick Walsh
• Mr H C and Mrs A B Tovey
• Trevor Sidnell
• Fr Oscar Ardila
• Samuel Stinson
• Toby Gettins
• Mrs Morag Marinoni
• Isabel Vaughan-Spruce
• A C Mullett
• Mrs Christine Port
• Lydia Grant
• Kevin Drew
• Gillian Price
• Teresa Wells
• Fr Tansi Ibisi
• Mrs Pauline Hart
• Penny Ann McKeon
• Patrick Spillane
• Gerard Cowie
• Catherine Moran
• Tricia Holley
• Gregory Tigney
• Sonali De Silva
• Dulcie Dove
• Tomasz Janicki
• Stephanie Blackburn
• Lucyna Bowen
• Alice Grennan
• Kevin Lazenby
• Gabriella Guerra
• Patrick Connell
• Nichola Whyman
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• Anna Voltanova
• Jane Sutton
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• Michael Beatham
• Dr Julian Kennedy
• Alec Davey
• Dr Ida and Dr Stefan Boron
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• Margaret Clarke
• Sean McAndrew
• Marcia McKenzie
• Fong Hah Chan
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• Mrs Amanda Abraham
• Mrs Mary Farmer
• David O'Beirne
• C Buttigieg
• Mrs Rosemary Meader
• Mr Stephen Mark Northam
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• Alan Hobson
• Patricia Greene
• Julia Scott
• Mrs Kathryn Arkell and Mr John Arkell
• James Anthony Young
• Mrs Frances Mainini
• Terri Crooks
• Stephen Conlon
• Emma Page
• Robert Mulligan
• Robert Hills
• Kyle Taylor
• Jithin Thomas Titto
• Dorota Woodall
• Joanne Polson
• Mrs Shona Bray
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• David Earley
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• Margaret Leahy
• Rosemary Jarvis
• Johnny Watson
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