A RAPE victim, who said she was told she would “go to hell” if she went in Albury’s abortion clinic, is relieved protesters will no longer be able to gather at such centres.
Enisa Elliot, who had urged Albury MP Greg Aplin to support safe access zones, said: “It’s about time, it’s great, it’s a step in the right direction.
“It’s just going to be a whole lot less stressful, I was made to feel like I was doing a walk of shame, so it will good that you won’t have to fight off people to get a normal procedure.”
Using the pseudonym Zoe, Ms Elliot told Fairfax Media of her experience accessing the Englehardt Street practice in 2014 for an abortion.
"My mood and demeanour just changed as soon as I saw them,” Ms Elliot said of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants protesters.
"There was a really huge feeling of tension that came over me.”
Ms Elliot, who was 26 at the time, said a man told her: “Babies get killed in there. Do you know you're going to burn in hell if you do this?”
Four years on, Ms Elliot says she wished she used her real name for the article.
“About 90 per cent of the women I know personally have had an abortion, but they won’t talk about it because there’s that stigma there,” she said.
Helper Peta Evans, at the time of Ms Elliot’s experience, rejected her claims.
“The helpers do not intimidate people but rather offer real help to those accessing the clinic,” she said.
Ms Elliot criticised Mr Aplin for comments on protesters in his speech to parliament on Thursday night.
“Him giving praise to the protesters is quite disgusting, it’s harassment that they’re doing and he’s making out it’s not harassment and they’re standing up for their beliefs and not doing anything wrong,” she said.
“He doesn’t understand the gravity of what the protesters have done.”
