Women are being spat on outside my abortion clinic. Where is the safe zone we're legally entitled to? | Michaela McDaid

In the 17 years I have worked at an abortion clinic, I’ve become accustomed to being called a murderer or told I have blood on my hands. But I’ll never get used to seeing women and girls in tears because of the harassment they’ve faced. This intimidation by anti-abortion groups has been intensifying for years, but there has been a sharp increase since the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US in 2022. Clinic workers like me are left with the unenviable task of trying to shield people accessing healthcare from graphic images, and our team members from being spat at as they come into work.

Last year, it felt as if an end was finally in sight. The Labour MP Stella Creasy had previously tabled an amendment to introduce safe-access zones around all abortion clinics in England and Wales, which was then signed into law in 2023. These were supposed to create a buffer of 150 metres around clinics like the one I work at in south London, preventing the harassment we now see on a daily basis. The relief was unimaginable.

I was so relieved when I heard the news. MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International), the organisation that I work for, has another clinic in west London, which already has one of these zones in place. Years ago, I would hear stories of how bad the anti-abortion harassment had got there: staff had to map out innovative routes just to get into work, and patients needed to use a side door to enter the clinic. In 2018, the council decided to step in. After gathering an overwhelming amount of evidence, the first local buffer was put in place around the clinic.

The signing of the legislation into law last year signalled a turning point, where this right – to have an abortion with dignity and privacy – would be open to everyone, not just people in Ealing. Unfortunately, when the election was called, these zones had still not been implemented by the Home Office. With a new home secretary in place (who voted for safe-access zones), we’re hopeful that the recent letter sent by a coalition of us will spark action. There are at least 16 other abortion clinics in England and Wales, including our own, which continue to face persistent harassment in the meantime.

Anti-choice groups seem to be taking this delay as a green light. They’ve ramped up their tactics, following people down the street as they leave us, sometimes filming them or taking photographs. Every day, I anxiously watch out the window from my desk to see whether they have arrived. I see women being harangued by strangers, handed leaflets littered with medical misinformation, having “Mummy” shouted at them – or even, on occasion, being physically blocked from entering.

I have lost count of the times I have comforted people in tears or who were physically shaking. There is still so much stigma surrounding abortion, and anti-abortion groups do everything they can to impose feelings of guilt and shame on women. No one deserves that. These groups don’t know the circumstances that have led someone to come to the clinic. Any decision a woman makes about her own body is an intensely personal one, and by the time they have come to us, their minds are made up.

Harassment puts women off: patients often tell us they have delayed treatment because they were frightened by the hostile presence outside. Waiting longer might mean they have fewer treatment options. But rather than engaging their humanity, this is often seen as a win by the protesters – who sometimes claim these obstructions as a victory and a justification for their actions. We know that the women just return on a different day for their care, only likely further along the road, and more shaken.

Bringing in the protective buffer for MSI Reproductive Choices’ Ealing clinic was like going from night to day. Without the persistent presence of protesters clutching rosary beads and plastic foetuses, and handing out leaflets urging women not to get abortions, everyone could go about their day. They didn’t have to face an onslaught of abuse. The zone has been in place for six years and our team in Ealing can’t imagine life without it.

It’s time to put an end to this postcode lottery. For years, we have been advocating for national legislation so that everyone in need of abortion care has the same protection from abuse wherever they are. One in three women will need or choose to have an abortion in their lifetime. It is essential healthcare. And it’s time it was treated as such.

• Michaela McDaid works at an MSI Reproductive Choices abortion clinic in south London

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