A Christian preacher will be prosecuted after he was accused of holding a Bible verse sign in the UK’s first abortion clinic “buffer zone”.
Stephen Green, 72, from South Wales, held a verse from Psalm 139 reading, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb”, outside a Marie Stopes International abortion clinic in February this year.
It is alleged he was standing within the country’s first abortion clinic “buffer zone”.
Ealing Council alleges that he breached a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which bans “protesting, namely engaging in an act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services” within a zone surrounding the abortion clinic.
The buffer zone is the first of its kind in the country and was set up following a vote to establish it in 2018. Prior to the buffer zone’s establishment, some groups, such as the Catholic anti-abortion Good Counsel Network, had handed out teddy bears to women entering the clinic or asked them to choose between blue or pink rosaries for their child.
Mr Green, who is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, said: “I was deeply shocked to receive the summons from Ealing Council. I see this prosecution as an attack on the Bible and free speech. I am determined to defend myself and fight for justice.
“People are right to be concerned about the buffer-zone legislation. To bar Christian witness and to control what people can say in an area is draconian and anti-Christian.”
A hearing is now set to take place from 10am on Tuesday 17 October at Uxbridge magistrates’ court, west London. If found guilty under section 67, Mr Green could be sent to prison for six months and/or fined £1,000.
Richard Bentley, UK managing director of MSI Reproductive Choices, previously said of buffer zones: “No one who comes to us has taken their decision lightly and many of those who are confronted by anti-abortion groups outside our clinics feel that their privacy has been seriously invaded at a time and place when they were most vulnerable.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/16/christian-preacher-faces-year-in-jail-buffer-zone-abortion/
