SAFE access zones outside abortion clinics in Northern Ireland are working “effectively” despite 108 calls to police in a year, a new report has said.
A legal framework for abortion was first introduced for Northern Ireland in March 2020, with 5,497 women and girls accessing services up to March 2023 – a report from the Department of Health said.
By September 2023, safe access zones were introduced with eight currently in place across all five health trust areas.
The buffer zones of up to 150 metres outside clinics or hospitals make it an offence to harass or influence anyone’s decision to use abortion services or work at the premises.
Those convicted of breaching the rules could face an unlimited fine.
In the Department of Health’s first annual report on the issue, there were particular concerns raised about ongoing protests at Causeway Hospital.
This accounted for eight recorded breaches in the Northern Trust in the 12 months up to September 2024, requiring the involvement of police on three occasions with protestors arrested on one occasion.
Police were called 108 times to safe access zones calls including 59 for the Northern Trust where two arrests were made which eventually led to a conviction.
Last year, a man and a woman became the first people in Northern Ireland to be charged with an illegal abortion protest.
Both were arrested following the incident at the Causeway Hospital in October, 2023.
One of the two, Claire Brennan, who was fined £750, vowed to continue her protests but said would not break the law again.
In December, she told the Coleraine Chronicle she was “proud” of her day in court, and said any anger or upset about her actions should be focused instead on the Northern Health trust.
“If the abortion facility wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be there,” she said.
The Department of Health’s report also listed a breach of a safe access zone in the Western trust outside Altnagelvin Hospital last June, with police attending the scene and engaging with protestors.
The Southern trust had 45 calls to police, but “consistent engagement with protestors” meant that no action was required.
There were two calls in both the Western and South Eastern Trusts in relation to protests and none in the Belfast trust.
Stating there was no intention to change the current measures, the report said that overall feedback from Trusts, the PSNI and other stakeholders that the introduction of safe access zones had been “a positive development” and were “effective in protecting women and staff” accessing and providing abortion services.
With variations of the measure also in place across Ireland and the UK, the Department said that on balance it considered “the legislation is working effectively and does not consider that any legislative amendments are required at this time.”
