The Council made the comments after Cork GP Dr Mary Favier said a protestor with a placard had stood outside her practise in the city earlier today.
The former president of the Irish College of General Practitioners and founding member of Doctors For Choice took to twitter to call on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to legislate for safe zones as a matter of urgency.
The protest came just days after Dr Favier said the zones were necessary to protect patients including those who had experienced a stillbirth.
Speaking to RedFM News, Alana Ryan from the National Women's Council of Ireland says the legislation around safe zones seems to have stalled:
"I think that these safe access zones are incredibly important, you know we can't underestimate how intimidating it can be for some women, for some pregnant people, for service users to have to walk by these intimidating placards and be subjected to harassment or abuse when they're just trying to access vital health care."
A protester with a placard is outside my practice this morning.
I'm not even there and off the MyOptions providers list for a week. So he isn't harassing any abortion patients, rather ALL patients. And the staff. And the local community.@DonnellyStephen it is time to legislate— Dr Mary Favier (@rosablackgp) August 10, 2021
