Gardaí played down warnings from HSE over safe access zones for abortion services

Anti-abortion campaigners protest outside the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Gardaí played down repeated warnings from the HSE that a lack of safe access zones was stopping GPs from signing up to provide abortion services, new documents reveal.

In fact, Garda representatives claimed that introducing laws to ensure those accessing termination of pregnancy services were not intimidated outside healthcare facilities could "add fuel to the fire".

It had initially been promised that safe access zones would be introduced in parallel with the rollout of the abortion services in January 2019, but the legislation has yet to be enacted.

Within weeks of abortion care being introduced, the HSE raised significant concerns that GPs were being targeted by anti-abortion campaigners who had compiled and published the names and addresses of GP clinics, documents released via Freedom of Information show.

The correspondence shows the HSE wrote to the affected GPs to warn them of the protests and also contacted the Garda Commissioner requesting that gardaí take "all the necessary action".

The HSE met with Department of Health and Garda officials in May 2019, during which gardaí said new legislation to establish safe access zones around GP practices and hospitals was not required. Instead, it was decided that local superintendents would be written to "advising them to be aware of services and to meet with providers locally to advise them that they can engage with the superintendent if there are any issues".

HSE officials had a different "perspective" and argued that "the lack of safe access zone legislation was influencing some GPs' willingness to sign up to provide the service; that the introduction of safe access zones had the potential to increase GP sign up and potentially increase the number of GPs opting to have their details shared via My Options".

This was in contrast to the view of gardaí, who "indicated that where there is a breach of the law, they currently have the powers to intervene but this needs to be balanced with allowing freedom of speech and peaceful protest.

"On balance it was felt that the levels of anti-abortion activities were pretty low, that legislation exists to deal with any breaches of the law and that while ToP [termination of pregnancy] could be included into new legislation, it may 'add fuel to the fire'."

Anti-abortion activity

An email sent out after the meeting said there had also been a "general discussion" on anti-abortion activity outside GP practices, hospitals, and family planning clinics.

The correspondence said the Department of Health gave an account of activity "including people holding placards and protesting/gathering outside of ToP service settings".

The Together for Safety group, which received the documents, said encountering protests impedes and interferes with accessing all healthcare including abortion care, adding that the introduction of safe access zones would mitigate this.

Together for Safety co-convener Yvie Murphy called on the department and the Minister for Health to bring forward legislation "at the earliest opportunity". 

"It has been shown time and time again that anti-choice protests and activities are having a negative effect and impact on not only people trying to access healthcare but also on healthcare workers and potential service providers. We know that the general public is supportive of safe access zone legislation. We have been waiting for this since 2018 — we’ve waited long enough," she said.

The Department of Health said it was committed to ensuring safe access to termination of pregnancy services and to progressing the issue as soon as practical but said any legislative provisions had to be implementable and enforceable and "stand up to any legal challenges that might be brought against them". 

"While it was originally intended to provide for safe access to termination of pregnancy services in the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, a number of complex legal and policy issues were identified during the drafting process which necessitated further deliberation and advice. Substantial work has been done to move safe access forward," it said.

"Careful consideration is required of the need to balance various rights, provide for proportionate interventions and to ensure a robust legal framework is progressed," the department added. 

"The issue of safe access to termination of pregnancy services is a priority area for the Department of Health and the aim is to progress this issue as a soon as practicable."