Anti-choice opposition
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Around the world, anti-abortion groups are mobilising.
Emboldened by the reversal of Roe v Wade in the United States and the rising so-called ‘anti-rights’ movement in the US and Europe, anti-choice activists have reportedly doubled their UK spend to nearly £1 million in the last year.
Despite 9 in 10 people in the UK being pro-choice, anti-abortion groups are convinced they have a chance to roll back rights. Before abortion clinic Safe Access Zones were implemented in October 2024, MSI saw a spike in hostile anti-choice activity outside our clinics. Large groups gathered outside clinic doorsteps to harass and intimidate women and frontline healthcare workers. They have been known to bring megaphones, call people names like ‘murderer’, spit at people, hold up scaremongering signs, share misleading or false medical claims, and sometimes film or take photos.
Thanks to advocacy from MSI and our partners, anti-choice groups can no longer gather within 150m of our clinics. But we know this won’t be the end of their hostile tactics. We can expect to see a rise in tactics like directing people to so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ which pose as healthcare providers but are a front for pushing an anti-choice agenda. We are seeing a rise in online abuse and false information, and this is likely to ramp up further in 2025.
We will always stand strong in the face of anti-choice opposition in the UK, as we do around the world. We are dedicated to protecting the right to abortion and providing high-quality, NHS-funded reproductive healthcare to everyone who needs or chooses it.
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Anti-choice groups and misinformation
Emboldened by the rollback of abortion rights and access in places like the US, anti-choice groups are using a range of tactics to intimidate and stop people accessing abortion care.
Crisis pregnancy centres in the UK
One example of how the anti-choice movement operates in the UK is through so-called crisis pregnancy centres’. A ‘crisis pregnancy centre’ is a facility run by an anti-choice organisation with the aim of dissuading people from accessing abortion care. They are similar to ‘conversion therapy’ centres which are used to coerce LGBT+ people into silence.
Whilst the anti-choice groups who run crisis pregnancy centres often present themselves as offering impartial advice and quality information, they are biased, coercive and wholly unqualified to offer support to those looking for pregnancy and abortion support. The key difference between crisis pregnancy centres and legitimate healthcare providers is that crisis pregnancy centres apply a directive approach, which no healthcare service should ever do. In other words, they direct people towards a particular outcome rather than give advice or support to help people make whatever decision is right for them.
These centres are often modelled on centres in the US, who aim to stop people from choosing to have an abortion and making whatever decision is right for them.
Tactics include:
- Manipulating or lying to people who are considering an abortion, making them believe they are too far along in their pregnancy to access care.
- Spreading harmful misinformation about abortion with false ‘abortion side effects’. There is no evidence that abortion care has any negative medical side effects.
How to find accurate, impartial advice online
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We have seen anti-choice ads online (often signposting to crisis pregnancy centres) appearing alongside ads from regulated abortion providers like MSI UK. These ads can appear to be providing abortion services but are in fact false advertising, aimed at coercing people seeking abortion care and blocking access to services.
Google is aware of the issue. They have introduced an “abortion certification policy”. In practical terms, this means that when Googling abortion-related terms, users will see ads along with an “Ad disclosure” – stating either “Provides abortions” or “Does not provide abortions” – which should inform the users on whether to click on those links. It’s important to look out for these disclaimers when searching for abortion services – or abortion advice – online. Note that there are credible medical organisations which do not provide abortion care, such as membership bodies like the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, or campaign groups like Abortion Rights.
Our asks for the government:
- Regulate so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centres’. Centres which are opposed to abortion and present themselves as a resource for people considering abortion should be required to plainly state their opposition to abortion. If it is their policy that they will never make a referral into an abortion service on principle, they should be obligated to make this clear in all marketing or promotional materials.
We encourage all parties to support inclusive, evidence-based Relationships, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE), developed in consultation with key stakeholders, civil society groups, and young people themselves. We are proud signatories of Brook’s pledge in support of RSHE and we encourage all candidates to back the campaign. - Protect longstanding laws and policies such as the Equalities Act 2010, and the principle known as ‘Gillick competence’, both of which anti-rights groups have attempted to undermine.
Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our advocacy work
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Bluesky to stay up to date with our campaign against anti-choice misinformation.
Wins and milestones against anti-choice opposition
Abortion clinic Safe Access Zones
In a huge win for abortion rights, Safe Access Zones were implemented around abortion clinics in England and Wales on 31st October 2024, ending decades of harassment and intimidation of people accessing or providing abortion care.
Abortion clinic Safe Access Zones (also known as ‘buffer zones’) make it an offence to influence, obstruct, or harass anyone within 150 metres of a clinic, hospital, or any premises providing services. Before Safe Access Zones were implemented, 2000 people accessed abortion care from a clinic which was subject to harassment every week.
What is abortion clinic harassment?
Anti-choice behaviour can take many forms and tends to target women.
Before Safe Access Zone implementation, our clients and staff regularly experienced anti-choice harassment, being targeted for accessing healthcare and for doing their jobs.
Harassment from anti-choice protestors included:
- Publicly accusing clients and staff of being ‘murderers’.
- Filming and photographing clients accessing healthcare.
- Knocking on client and staff car windows when arriving or leaving, disrupting healthcare access.
- Handing out misleading medical information, putting client safety at risk.
- Banging on, and barricading, clinic doors to prevent access to healthcare.
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The journey to national Safe Access Zones
We have been advocating for Safe Access Zones for years, both at a local and a national level.
- April 2018: MSI Reproductive Choices UK’s Ealing (West London) clinic became the first in the country to benefit from a Safe Access Zone, following a period of advocacy from MSI Reproductive Choices UK, other providers, and grassroots groups like Sister Supporter.
- October 2022: Stella Creasy’s amendment to introduce national Safe Access Zones was passed, with support from MPs across all major political parties.
- May 2023: Safe Access Zones were signed into law in England and Wales, but not yet implemented or “commenced”.
- July 2024: following the general election, Jess Phillips MP (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women) announced that the legislation would come into force on 31st October.
- 31st October 2024: abortion clinic Safe Access Zones were finally implemented around abortion clinics in England and Wales.
We are proud to have campaigned for Safe Access Zones along with our partners including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), and Sister Supporter.
Everyone deserves to access and provide abortion care without fear of anti-choice harassment. Now, across the UK, this will be a reality.
Read our range of blogs on Safe Access Zones
Click here to browse our advocacy blogs on Safe Access Zones, including our campaign to protect anyone accessing and providing abortion care from anti-choice harassment and intimidation.
Position papers, policy briefings and consultation responses
As part of our campaign to end abortion clinic harassment across the UK, we developed a range of publications sharing our position, briefings for parliamentarians and consultation responses. Read them here:
Read more about our advocacy work
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Advocacy and opinions
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Abortion law reform
Learn about our campaign to decriminalise abortion.
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