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The leader of an organization aimed at defending Christian values is on a mission to dismantle U.K. buffer zones, areas created to prevent protest — and even silent prayer — outside abortion clinics.
Andrea Williams, chief executive officer of Christian Concern, a group that works to encourage Christians throughout the U.K., said it’s hard for many in the West to imagine such restrictions on free speech.
“Those that are watching this will think, ‘Really, has Great Britain created a space where you are unable to speak quietly, unable even to pray, unable even to walk alongside a woman to explain another way when she’s in and around an abortion clinic?'” Williams said. “Well, that’s come to pass in the United Kingdom.”
leader of an organization aimed at defending Christian values is on a mission to dismantle U.K. buffer zones, areas created to prevent protest — and even silent prayer — outside abortion clinics.
Andrea Williams, chief executive officer of Christian Concern, a group that works to encourage Christians throughout the U.K., said it’s hard for many in the West to imagine such restrictions on free speech.
“Those that are watching this will think, ‘Really, has Great Britain created a space where you are unable to speak quietly, unable even to pray, unable even to walk alongside a woman to explain another way when she’s in and around an abortion clinic?'” Williams said. “Well, that’s come to pass in the United Kingdom.”
She said the U.K. has always been a nation bent on championing free speech, freedom of conscience, and the freedom to protest, though recent regulations bringing buffer zones to the entirety of the nation have, in her view, impeded that legacy.
“This is something that has slipped in,” she said of the buffer laws. “It slipped in under another major act, the Public Order Act, of this year, and it’s slipped in by way of an amendment.”
Williams, who called the process of pushing the buffer zones through “absolutely shocking,” continued, “It’s actually one of the things that … tears up one of our fundamental constitutional principles around freedom to speak, freedom to protest, freedom to assemble.”
According to the nationalized abortion buffer zone rules, no one is allowed to protest for 150 meters (over 490 feet) “from any direction” of the clinic. Williams believes efforts to curb the presence of pro-life campaigners are rooted in an attempt by the abortion lobby to simply snuff out their presence.
As CBN’s Faithwire previously reported, the Public Order Bill crossed all parliamentary hurdles earlier this year, creating the massive buffer zone around abortion clinics. The bill criminalizes “influencing” outside abortion facilities, which includes prayer, peaceful conversations, or offers to help women with services available to those who would like an alternative to abortion.
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Andrea Williams, chief executive officer of Christian Concern, a group that works to encourage Christians throughout the U.K., said it’s hard for many in the West to imagine such restrictions on free speech.
“Those that are watching this will think, ‘Really, has Great Britain created a space where you are unable to speak quietly, unable even to pray, unable even to walk alongside a woman to explain another way when she’s in and around an abortion clinic?'” Williams said. “Well, that’s come to pass in the United Kingdom.”
leader of an organization aimed at defending Christian values is on a mission to dismantle U.K. buffer zones, areas created to prevent protest — and even silent prayer — outside abortion clinics.
Andrea Williams, chief executive officer of Christian Concern, a group that works to encourage Christians throughout the U.K., said it’s hard for many in the West to imagine such restrictions on free speech.
“Those that are watching this will think, ‘Really, has Great Britain created a space where you are unable to speak quietly, unable even to pray, unable even to walk alongside a woman to explain another way when she’s in and around an abortion clinic?'” Williams said. “Well, that’s come to pass in the United Kingdom.”
She said the U.K. has always been a nation bent on championing free speech, freedom of conscience, and the freedom to protest, though recent regulations bringing buffer zones to the entirety of the nation have, in her view, impeded that legacy.
“This is something that has slipped in,” she said of the buffer laws. “It slipped in under another major act, the Public Order Act, of this year, and it’s slipped in by way of an amendment.”
Williams, who called the process of pushing the buffer zones through “absolutely shocking,” continued, “It’s actually one of the things that … tears up one of our fundamental constitutional principles around freedom to speak, freedom to protest, freedom to assemble.”
According to the nationalized abortion buffer zone rules, no one is allowed to protest for 150 meters (over 490 feet) “from any direction” of the clinic. Williams believes efforts to curb the presence of pro-life campaigners are rooted in an attempt by the abortion lobby to simply snuff out their presence.
As CBN’s Faithwire previously reported, the Public Order Bill crossed all parliamentary hurdles earlier this year, creating the massive buffer zone around abortion clinics. The bill criminalizes “influencing” outside abortion facilities, which includes prayer, peaceful conversations, or offers to help women with services available to those who would like an alternative to abortion.
Read More
Warning For America After 'Buffer Zone' Law Hits UK: 'Unable Even to Pray'
The leader of an organization aimed at defending Christian values is on a mission to dismantle U.K.
