{"id":306460,"date":"2024-02-08T10:43:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T16:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=306460"},"modified":"2024-02-07T14:08:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T20:08:39","slug":"uk-man-sentenced-sign-bible-verse-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-man-sentenced-sign-bible-verse-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"UK man sentenced and fined for displaying sign with Bible verse near abortion facility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In February of 2023, Stephen Green of South Wales was <\/span>arrested<\/span><\/a> for holding a sign within a designated safe zone for an abortion facility. He has now been sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge and fined about \u00a32,426 (approximately $3000 USD). According to sentencingcouncil.org.uk<\/a>, a conditional discharge<\/em> means that “if the offender commits another crime, they can be sentenced for the first offence and the new one.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Green\u2019s sign read, \u201cPsalm 139:13: For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.\u201d The police were called and Green’s presence there was labeled an \u201cemergency,\u201d according to the <\/span>Christian Voice<\/span><\/a>. But Green left before the police arrived about 40 minutes later. He was later fined \u00a3100 by the Ealing Council, but declined to pay the fine. He was then called to court in the fall of 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Green stated, \u201cI see this prosecution as an attack on the Bible and free speech. I am determined to defend myself and fight for justice.\u201d Green, a 72-year-old pastor and national director of the Christian Voice UK, claims his intent was to protest the buffer zone specifically.<\/span><\/p>\n

This buffer zone in front of the MSI Reproductive Choices facility prevents sidewalk counselors and others praying and peacefully protesting from reaching or having any contact with the clients entering. The Anti-Social Behavior, Crime and Policing Act of 2014 outlines in section 67 that its goal is to prevent prayer and protest in regard to the abortions done at the facility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n