Michael Gove, Former Conservative politician and the editor of the Spectator, made a statement against the recent arrest of a pro-life protestor in Scotland. Activist Rose Dochert was accosted by Scottish police after she stood outside an abortion clinic with a sign. The woman was asked to leave as praying outside abortion clinics is banned under Scottish law. This comes just a few days after JD Vance made a speech where he discussed this issue. Online commentators rallied behind Rose and maybe offered their sympathies.
“It is wrong to say that someone cannot pray – silently – because you have a particular view on abortion…For me, free speech is as close to a fundamental principle as any. And so is freedom of worship,” said Gove. “Prayer…that’s at the foundation of the country…I’m not saying that everyone should believe, but you can’t understand Britain without understanding our Judeo-Christian tradition.”
“I’m here to say that if anyone wants to come to speak to me of their own volition, they can,” Rose said. The officer replied,” I would advise you to move away from this area.” The courageous protestor fired back, ” So I’m just here to speak to anyone if they want to speak to me. That’s what I’m doing standing here, saying that coercion is a crime, and if anyone wants to speak to me, they can. So is that an offense?”
“Perhaps, most concerningly, I look to our dear friends, the United Kingdom… A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes,” JD Vance delivered. ” Not obstructing anyone. Not interacting with anyone. Just silently praying on his own.”
“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before,” Vance said. ” The officers were not moved. Adam was found guilty of breaking the government’s new buffer zones law which criminalizes silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within 200 meters of an abortion facility. He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution.”
“It’s a regular occurrence in most large cities. Why is that ok but someone praying silently isn’t? How can this be viewed as anything else but two tier policing based on racial or religious identity?,” the same user concluded.”OK so Mosques can blear out the call the player 5 times a day via loudspeaker where Non Muslims are forced to listn to it, but Christians aren’t allowed to pray in their heads, OK I got it now..Very fair system..nice freedoms we have,” one commentor replied.