Buffer zone or not?
In the Netherlands, municipalities determine their own buffer zones for abortion clinics. Anti-abortion protesters are not allowed to stand in front of the clinic within a certain radius, from 100 to sometimes 500 meters. Utrecht has no buffer zone.
The municipality of Utrecht believes that anti-abortion protesters in the city have rightly been sent to another place. That is why mayor Dijksma is appealing the court decision earlier this month. She wants to use the ‘right to self-determination’ as an extra argument, which was not discussed earlier.
The verdict of the case will determine how the municipality can deal with demonstrations at the clinic in the future. Jesus Lives founder Joop van Ooijen announced earlier that he wanted to organize more and more frequent demonstrations for the clinic in the future. Until the verdict is there, they will not request any new demonstrations.