Back in July last year, a group of pro-lifers, members of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, were holding a prayer vigil outside a British abortion facility. Three of those present spoke to women who were going in, while the remainder of the group stayed on the opposite side of the street, praying. It appears that someone in the facility complained to the police as, suddenly, a police car and police van arrived at the clinic, with sirens blaring.
The police threatened to arrest any member of the group who would not stop counselling. Wishing to be law-abiding citizens, the counsellors obeyed the police and stopped their counselling. Two weeks later the group received a letter, warning them that in future they would have to notify the police in advance of any vigil at the abortion clinic. They were also informed by the police that further conditions might be placed on the vigils at any time.
However, eight months later, on 19 March 2009, the Christian Legal Centre (which had been advising the group) received a letter from the Metropolitan Police stating that the group would be allowed to continue with their vigils without police interference.
The double standards of the police towards pro-life campaigners is ludicrous. A former student activist wrote to me recently, describing a demostration she organised in London. She writes:
During the 24-hour vigil the police were constantly coming up to us and asking questions or demanding to see our permission papers, even though we were clearly not causing any trouble. Then, just as we were just about to finish, this man came up and started harrassing me. It was really horrible, he was muttering gibberish in my face because he thought I was a foreigner and pressing up really close to me. I kept trying to signal to the three police officers watching the incident from across the road that I needed help, but they just stood there and watched as the man got more and more persistent. It was as if my safety was of no importance to them at all.
Thank God for the Christian Legal Centre. At a time when civil liberties are so at risk in Britain, we need organisations like CLC to ensure that the rights of pro-life campaigners are protected.
