Woman arrested in Birmingham for praying outside abortion clinic

[bagthoughts]

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.

👏🏼

YABVVVVVVVU to go to 'Fox News' and expect to get any sort of reasonable, unbiased report on anything.
Hopefully that is the main thing you have learned from this thread.

This woman and her clique of (often American) friends come to abortion clinics with the express aim of upsetting, intimidating, and harassing women who are already very vulnerable in many cases. Because of their atrocious behaviour over months and years, the police and City Council have had to apply to the courts for the exclusion zones. She then deliberately still went back to where she knows she is banned from, for her appalling behaviour (with camera man in tow) and was, quite rightly, politely and calmly asked to move which she chose not to, so she was therefore arrested - which she set out to do that day.

Is that clear for you ?

PS, only mention 'American' to say this abortion clinic is nothing to do with them. The protesters aren't local people. I would not lump all Americans in the same vile boat.

100% agree

I congratulate the arresting officer for doing his duty and enforcing the law.

Using ‘prayer’s da weapon. Scummy cunt.

Good!

stop using god and prayer as a badly veiled excuse to attempt to intimidate people who are going about their legal business

But of course, she wouldn't get any attention if she did that.

By good work you help babies, do you mean intimidating and pressuring women into continuing pregnancies they don't want? You only have to look at her social media to see that she loves being a martyr.

I go past this clinic every week - it is on a public road, so I imagine the exclusion order is for people loitering rather than going through. There always used to be people outside the clinic praying, now they're often further down the road by the catholic church.
I'm a christian, but think women should be able to choose what happens to their bodies - it must be difficult enough to go into those clinics without having people standing outside who are silently disapproving of what you're doing, even if they don't say anything to you. It's intimidating, and that's not on.

Glad she was arrested, intimidation is an adult term for bullying.

@Blondlashes what kind of sympathy do you think you, and the OP, deserve for you anti woman views?!

@AnaBannanna Well that’s your perspective. It’s not anti women to offer alternatives to abortion - a place to live, nappies, clothes etc. Life for their baby. I accept not every woman want that. But some do, they accept it and have their babies. That’s a valid choice. Maybe if this was promoted more then women would see they have a real choice. Not every woman walking into an abortion clinic is there because it’s a choice they are ok with. Some want to keep their babies but feel (for a variety of reasons) they cannot.

A 2018 government review into the work of pro-life volunteers outside of abortion facilities found that instances of harassment are rare, and police already have powers to prosecute individuals engaging in such activities.

The most common activities of pro-life groups were found to be quiet or silent prayer, or offering leaflets about charitable support available to women who would like to consider alternative options to abortion.

The censorial provisions of the parliamentary bill drew substantive criticism from members of the House of Lords, including Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Beith, who deemed the clause “the most profound restriction on free speech I have ever seen in any UK legislation”.

Lord Farmer called the clause “fundamentally flawed”, and aske: “When one walks past, one sees that vigils are often small groups of harmless, mainly female, pensioners. Why should they be banned and silenced?”

The most disturbing thing about this thread? There are people that think Fox News is a source of journalism let alone Tucker Carlson could ever be unbiased, or hold even express a vaguely neutral perspective as opposed to the far right, religious extremist views that are his trade mark.

@bagthoughts you don’t know what you don’t know so I believe this thread is in good faith. I agree with you that there should be better media regulation but until then, I hope you look elsewhere for news and sincerely wish you luck. Don’t get sucked into poisonous divisive narratives like this.

@Blondlashes picture this:

You are 17. You are 11 weeks pregnant. Your (25 year old) boyfriend says, on finding out: "how long until you get rid of it?"

You're walking into a BPAS clinic alone. You're terrified. The last time you had surgery your mum was there to hold your hand.

As you're walking in, there are a group of people "praying", holding crosses, pictures of babies wrapped in knitted blankets, near the entrance to the clinic.

"Come and talk to us, darling, we can help you to look after your little baby", one of them says to you.

You go over because you're so desperate for someone to care.

"Don't go in there. We can help you. You can have a beautiful baby. If you go in there, you are murdering your baby. I have a picture of what a murdered baby looks like. Let me show you"

You run into the centre, crying your eyes out, even more terrified and alone than you were before.

That was me, 20 years ago. I remember that horrible cunt of a "Christian", praying, almost every day.

Fuck their prayers. Let them pray in church or in their homes for themselves, and their families.

No one was praying for me, that day 20 years ago. They were praying for their own pious, smug, pity filled selves.

Where do you draw the line? Why do they need to be there? Catholics say unbaptised babies go to limbo. They just float around, in the ether.

When I had finished my surgical termination, there was a much older woman crying in the bed opposite me. She was 46 and had had a TMFR, as an emergency, at BPAS because her local hospital couldn't get her in quickly enough. It was her last go at IVF. She had been trying to have a baby for 15 years with her husband. Would the murdered baby pictures have helped her?

Fuck their prayers. Fuck them. Women's choice trumps their prayers.

Very good copy and paste function.

Disingenuous nonsense

I grew up in a church going family.

'Prayers' are not always innocent in my experience. They can be quite spiteful, hateful, and vengeful, especially if it's about abortion.

I'm not religious anymore, and have worked in abortion services in the past. My family don't know this, but if they did, they would tell me I was a murderer and will burn in hell. They are not interested in the reasons why women might need an abortion, or in offering practical support to single mothers.

@Blondlashes and absolutely I think that these 'harmless, mostly female, pensioners' should be banned and silenced for abusing women seeking safe and legal healthcare for themselves. They are certainly NOT harmless just because they are in the guise of little old ladies praying over people. Disgusting! You are anti woman whatever you like to pretend.

@Blondlashes

That's not your opinion, that's a literal cut and paste from this press release from the American Alliance Defending Freedom organisation which works to curtail women's reproductive rights.

And funnily enough it was the ADF who were present and filming when this woman was arrested as it's their copyright on all the news stories relating to it - and they are also this woman's legal representatives.

I love the way Mumsnet takes down shills with an agenda.

It’s not anti women to offer alternatives to abortion - a place to live, nappies, clothes etc

You know what I have never actually seen pro force birthers do? Offer women a place to live for 18 years, an ongoing commitment to provide clothes, nappies etc. Too busy 'praying' outside womens clinics

Pro women is lobbying the government for, and voting into Parliament MPs who will actually make pro women decisions

That's where real change happens. But it's easier to hassle vulnerable women than powerful (mainly) men isn't it?

There's no hate like Christian love.

It’s not anti women to offer alternatives to abortion - a place to live, nappies, clothes etc

this argument only works if you start with the assumption that women considering abortion would like to become mothers if only the circumstances were right.

What if the reason for the abortion is simply zero desire to have a child and zero interest in putting your body through pregancy and birth.

Then what? What's your proposed alternative?

If you're going to quote from some far- right American hate group at list have the integrity to cite your sources. Or do you work for them?

blondlashes what’s it like in cloud cuckoo land hun? Pro forced birth nut jobs scare the shit out of me. You are deluded. Open your fucking eyes. Give me one good reason why a woman that doesn’t want to give birth should be forced to carry a baby she doesn’t want to? It’s not all hearts, flowers and fucking roses. Babies grow up. Babies cost money. Love doesn’t pay the bills. Neither do self righteous Christian groups. So back the fuck off. You, Isobel and any other lunatic trying to control a woman’s bodily autonomy. We see you. And we’ll never let you take our rights.