Christians who are caught “praying”, “reciting scripture”, or “crossing themselves” near an abortion centre could be sentenced to up to six months in jail in the United Kingdom.
British officials are pushing to have Christians who practice their faith too close to abortion centres jailed under revamped crackdown rules aimed at curbing protests against the practice.
Under current legislation, it can already be an offence to “audibly pray” within so-called “Safe Zones” established around some abortion centres, with those running afoul of the rules liable for a fine of up to £1,000 (~$1,100).
Those who “recite scripture, genuflect, sprinkle holy water on the ground or cross themselves if they perceive a service-users is [sic] passing by” are also liable for fines under the existing regime in one “Safe Zone” administered by Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council (BCP Council), for example.
However, according to a report by The Telegraph, government bigwigs are looking to greatly expand the severity of penalties for those who fall foul of their rules, with new plans aimed at cracking down on such protests including provisions to jail offenders for up to six months should they be perceived as protesting within a buffer zone.
While the Home Secretary has reportedly yet to common on the proposed measure — which comes as part of an amendment to the Truss Government’s Public Order Bill — the crackdown rules have received support from a number of Conservative Party MPs, including former Cabinet Office minister Andrew Mitchell and former Home Office minister Caroline Nokes.
Left-wing Labour MPs have also voiced support for the crackdown, with one party official describing the move as being needed “to protect a woman’s right to abortion”.
Over 200,000 Terminations: Government Lockdown Partial Cause of Record Number of Abortions in 2021 – Claimhttps://t.co/824VjaGf4R
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 22, 2022
While establishment politicians in Britain are voicing concern for women’s access to abortion within the United Kingdom, recent statistics appear to indicate that many within the country are having no difficulty disposing of unborn children in increasing numbers.
Quite the contrary, in fact, with official statistics revealing that England and Wales saw 214,256 abortions take place in 2021 alone — the highest number to take place since records began, beating a previous record of 209,917 which was only set in 2020.
According to experts in the abortion industry, record-breaking years for terminations could be put down to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Britain’s regime of on-and-off lockdowns.
Nevertheless, even these numbers do not appear to be enough for many in the industry, with doctors declaring in August that they wanted to see abortion up until birth “decriminalised” across the country.
Doctors at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists deemed such a measure necessary to prevent “cruel” investigations into women whom authorities suspect could have had late-term abortions, which are technically illegal.
“It is our belief that prosecuting a woman for ending their pregnancy will never be in the public interest,” the President of the organisation, Dr Edward Morris, claimed, describing such deregulation as necessary to protect women’s access to abortion.
'Abortion Is the Taking of a Human Life' – UK Doctors Push to 'Decriminalise' Abortion Up to Birth https://t.co/VbH3IIIKyg
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 8, 2022
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