Mothers challenging a decision to criminalise prayer and support outside abortion clinics have joined together outside the High Court after filing the challenge.
At the end of April, Alina Dulgheriu, a mother who was supported by a pro-life vigil outside a London abortion clinic, filed a high court challenge to the Ealing ‘censorship zone’.
This censorship zone would criminalise prayer and support outside an abortion clinic and prevent pro-life vigils from taking place within a wide exclusion zone.
Ms Dulgheriu told the media: ‘I am here today because I have confidence in the truth. I am here today because I have confidence in the facts, and I have confidence in the British system of justice to distinguish spin from reality.
‘And the reality is this. Without sufficient justification, Ealing Council has decided to criminalise otherwise lawful behaviour … to criminalise charitable activity that is needed by some of the most vulnerable women in our society.
‘I am asking that justice be done for those women who have been ignored by Ealing Council’. She added she never imagined she would have to take action at the High Court against a local council.
Ms Dulgheriu added: ‘Ealing Council has publicly accepted that vulnerable women want and need the help of pro-life vigils, yet, they chose to remove that help. They have knowingly removed help for the most vulnerable, the physically abused, immigrants, [and those] often with language difficulties.
‘I cannot put into words the joy, the beauty and the love that my daughter has brought to my life. She would not be with us today if it weren’t for the vigils that Ealing Council has criminalised’. The mothers are part of campaign group Be Here For Me, which aims to support women who are pregnant and help them make alternative decisions other than abortion (www.behereforme.org).
