The Labour MP Rupa Huq wants to see “buffer zones” introduced around family planning clinics, to prevent anti-choice protesters intimidating women seeking abortions.

Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton in west London, said that she plans to table an amendment to new domestic violence legislation, meaning protests cannot be staged outside abortion clinics.

Speaking at a Labour conference fringe event, Huq said that there had long been a problem with protesters “weaponising rosary beads” outside a clinic in her constituency – a reference to the Catholic belief that life begins at conception.

“We have a Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing and for as long as I can remember, there has been a constant phoney vigil outside the clinic, with people stopping women going into the clinic to access services,” said Huq, according to HuffPost.

How Labour MP Rupa Huq plans to end protests outside abortion clinics