ANTI-ABORTION campaigners have gone to the High Court to overturn a ban on harassing women at abortion clinics, claiming it is “unlawful, invalid and unjustified.”

Ealing Council installed a 100m “buffer zone” outside a Marie Stopes clinic in west London following a “long history of anti-abortion groups being present outside the entrance gates.”

The council introduced the protest-free zone by enforcing a public spaces protection order (PSPO) in April in response to reports of “intimidation, harassment and distress” for women using the facility.

The Good Counsel Network claims the PSPO is “inherently disproportionate” and sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression and assembly as it “criminalises behaviour which would otherwise be lawful.”

Mr Justice Turner reserved judgement in the case.