Page 6 | Woman arrested in Birmingham for praying outside abortion clinic

bagthoughts · 2022-12-26T10:17:05+00:00

How on earth can someone be arrested for silently praying? Is there more to the story perhaps that is not being reported because if not I find this ridiculous and scary - what is the world coming to? We can get arrested for our thoughts WTAF. Whether you agree or not with abortion this is just wrong. https://youtu.be/2Td5GHNQIgY

TooBored1 · 26/12/2022 11:51

bagthoughts · 26/12/2022 10:59

Here 👋 yes that's never knew anything about exclusion zones - perhaps the news should be unbiased reporting as vastly misleading

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Perhaps you could help by checking the veracity of "news" articles before sharing them. The media won't improve when people blindly share their muck.

Namechangedforthisonetoday · 26/12/2022 11:53

Blondlashes · 26/12/2022 10:47

@bagthoughts you won’t find any sympathy for your perspective on Mumsnet sadly.
From what I understand the clinic was closed and she was praying silently and also got distracted thinking about her lunch. So a mixture of lawful and unlawful activities in that areas.
The bigger issue is that we have got to the point where silently praying in the street is considered by some a harassment. That’s a pretty low bar. And it has implications for other protests in the Uk. But people don’t seem to care about this.
Personally I don’t agree with abortion. For a variety of reasons.
I’m also concerned about the erosion of rights to protest - especially silent thought protests.
As an aside Isabel has done a lot of good work to help women who want to keep their babies but feel unable to. But of course this is less important than her silently standing in a road.

When you say ‘personally I don’t agree with abortion, for a variety of reasons’, I think what you really meant was ‘I don’t agree with Womens rights over their own bodies, for a variety of reasons’ Just say it how you see it, no point skirting around the issue.

VisaGeezer · 26/12/2022 11:54

ohbygolly · 26/12/2022 11:27

Knowing what an exclusion zone is or not is irrelevant. Surely be to Jesus you can understand that praying outside an abortion clinic (silently or otherwise) has nothing to do with an act of prayer , or religious piety, and everything to do with shaming and intimidating women into doing what you want. It is one of the most unchristian acts somebody can undertake, and is an abhorrent practice, where success is considered having a woman publicly turn away from the clinic, and walk off unsupported into Lord knows what.

Yes another good point ..... A totally disingenuous op

Namechangedforthisonetoday · 26/12/2022 11:54

If you are a woman and you support the removal of rights for women over their own bodies, you are a handmaiden, nothing more.

MintJulia · 26/12/2022 11:58

Good.

Hopefully she'll be slapped with a fine and told that if she does it again she'll be in contempt of court and face a custodial sentence. She should keep her interfering judgemental views to herself.

MintJulia · 26/12/2022 12:02

And OP, I suggest you find a more credible source of information than Fox News!

AnaBannanna · 26/12/2022 12:06

Maybe a bit more research on the subject and this woman would have been better before your hysterical post OP. But then maybe that was your agenda all along.

Namechangedforthisonetoday · 26/12/2022 12:09

‘They can’t arrest people for praying. It’s a human right’ . Tuckers ‘human rights’ clearly don’t extend to a woman having bodily autonomy though 🤔

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 26/12/2022 12:12

When you say ‘personally I don’t agree with abortion, for a variety of reasons’, I think what you really meant was ‘I don’t agree with Womens rights over their own bodies, for a variety of reasons’ Just say it how you see it, no point skirting around the issue.

I agree. Just be honest. Say you don't believe women should have control of their own bodies.
The woman can pray anywhere, she doesn't have a right to do it in an exclusion zone. No one is stopping her right to pray, just where to do it.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 26/12/2022 12:13

Exclusion zones are there for reason - to allow women to enter and exit an abortion clinic without some pious “do gooder” whispering nonsense to themselves in an obvious attempt to make the woman feel guilty. It is harassment as clearly if a woman wanted someone to pray for them they would go to their local religious establishment and ask for prayers.

AngelicaElizaAndPeggy · 26/12/2022 12:14

She wasn't praying - she was purposefully trying to intimidate women into bending to her religious will.

I'm glad she was arrested. If she really needs to pray, she can do it from beyond the exclusion zone - God can still tune in and everyone else can go about their lives in peace.

MissMogwai · 26/12/2022 12:15

AnaBannanna · 26/12/2022 12:06

Maybe a bit more research on the subject and this woman would have been better before your hysterical post OP. But then maybe that was your agenda all along.

Exactly!

Isobel deserved it. It might be her right to pray where she likes (apart from a legal exclusion zone, obviously), but it's also all women's rights to make their own, choices about their bodies, without being hassled or challenged by misogynistic mentalists.

justgotosleepffs · 26/12/2022 12:17

I disagree with those saying she deserves this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but an exclusion zone doesn't ban all people outright from entering the area - its s public space and a thoroughfare and a route to work or whatever. Doesn't an exclusion zone simply restrict what can be done in this space? So no large groups, no protests, no chanting, no slogans, etc. As a previous poster said, if standing silently on the pavement is considered intimidation then that's a very low bar and has implications for other areas of life.

I also think many posters have some cognitive dissonance here. To suggwst thst some points of view are so terrible, that peopl shouldn't be allowed to stand there silently thinking them? That being forced to look in the eye someone who disagrees with you means you no longer have a "safe space"? That other people's thoughts are "literal violence"?

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 26/12/2022 12:19

GodisaBC · 26/12/2022 10:20

She knew full well she was breaking the law

This and I’m absolutely delighted that FINALLY women’s reproductive rights are being protected from misogynistic loons who want forced birth to happen

DiddyHeck · 26/12/2022 12:19

justgotosleepffs · 26/12/2022 12:17

I disagree with those saying she deserves this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but an exclusion zone doesn't ban all people outright from entering the area - its s public space and a thoroughfare and a route to work or whatever. Doesn't an exclusion zone simply restrict what can be done in this space? So no large groups, no protests, no chanting, no slogans, etc. As a previous poster said, if standing silently on the pavement is considered intimidation then that's a very low bar and has implications for other areas of life.

I also think many posters have some cognitive dissonance here. To suggwst thst some points of view are so terrible, that peopl shouldn't be allowed to stand there silently thinking them? That being forced to look in the eye someone who disagrees with you means you no longer have a "safe space"? That other people's thoughts are "literal violence"?

Oh come, she's a well known anti-abortionist and a little wind up merchant.

The police know this and arrested her.

Good on them.

SellFridges · 26/12/2022 12:20

And let it be noted, she had travelled thirty miles to find herself stood on the corner of a road she has no association with personally.

AccountDetail · 26/12/2022 12:20

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 26/12/2022 12:13

Exclusion zones are there for reason - to allow women to enter and exit an abortion clinic without some pious “do gooder” whispering nonsense to themselves in an obvious attempt to make the woman feel guilty. It is harassment as clearly if a woman wanted someone to pray for them they would go to their local religious establishment and ask for prayers.

This. This woman knew what she was doing. She was trying to manipulate women.
There are other places she could pray. She wanted to be a twat and say 'what we can't pray wherever we like?'. If that wasn't the case she would have prayed elsewhere.

Thinkwicebeforeyouleavemylife · 26/12/2022 12:22

Was that really the only place she can pray though?

She can take her crap elsewhere. I'm willing to bet she's harassed women in the past.

Iam4eels · 26/12/2022 12:22

She was literally feet away from rhe entrance so in close proximity to every going in/out. She's a known harrasser of staff and patients. In that context, her just standing there is a form of intimidation, it's a non-verbal threat and it puts people on edge as they'll be waiting for her to do something more than just stand there.

It's only right she was arrested, I hope they arrest her next time too.

MavisMcMinty · 26/12/2022 12:23

Oh come, she's a well known anti-abortionist and a little wind up merchant. The police know this and arrested her. Good on them.

This! Be as anti-abortion as you like, just do it quietly. Don’t have one if you don’t want one but keep out of other people’s business.

catandcoffee · 26/12/2022 12:25

She can pray at home,church,the local park but she needs to keep away from that particular zone.

She's doing it on purpose and has no right to upset women who have made their choices.

MintJulia · 26/12/2022 12:26

justgotosleepffs · 26/12/2022 12:17

I disagree with those saying she deserves this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but an exclusion zone doesn't ban all people outright from entering the area - its s public space and a thoroughfare and a route to work or whatever. Doesn't an exclusion zone simply restrict what can be done in this space? So no large groups, no protests, no chanting, no slogans, etc. As a previous poster said, if standing silently on the pavement is considered intimidation then that's a very low bar and has implications for other areas of life.

I also think many posters have some cognitive dissonance here. To suggwst thst some points of view are so terrible, that peopl shouldn't be allowed to stand there silently thinking them? That being forced to look in the eye someone who disagrees with you means you no longer have a "safe space"? That other people's thoughts are "literal violence"?

No problem with anyone standing on a street, silently thinking, of course, but when they intentionally travel 30 miles to do it outside an abortion clinic, their intent is clear and they deserve to be arrested.

Sparklesocks · 26/12/2022 12:28

She knew exactly what she was doing as does OP.

Quveas · 26/12/2022 12:28

We can get arrested for our thoughts WTAF. Whether you agree or not with abortion this is just wrong.

And you picked up this gem from Fox news, one of the US's most conservative right-wing news channels in the US? Would you like to pretend that you just happened to be watching a channel renowned for right-wing mysogenistic views as well? Because I'm calling you out - this is deliberate provocation and you knew that all along. Your opinions are nowhere near as well hidden as you think they are.

And she wasn't arrested for thinking. She can think whatever she likes, wherever she likes, within the law. She wasn't thinking. She was breaking the law and intimidating women who also have the right to think what they want without being harassed

catmothertes1 · 26/12/2022 12:31

Penguinsaregreat · 26/12/2022 10:56

She broke a legal restriction.
Maybe she should concentrate on doing something pro active such as helping the thousands of orphaned children. Or the homeless. Or all the children in care. Maybe should should go and visit those children and do activities with them, or take them food and gifts. Off the top of my head I can think of many, many positive and helpful things she could do. Doesn’t sound like that kind of person though.

Indeed. However,like an awful lot of similar minded people,she very likely doesn't care what happens once those children are born.