UK: Pro-life Activist Found Guilty After Holding “Thou Hast Covered Me In My Mother’s Womb” Sign Inside Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Christian pro-life activist in the United Kingdom has been found guilty of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) by holding a sign outside a London abortion clinic with the words: “Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” Stephen Green was convicted at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday; the abortion clinic he had been at is run by MSI Reproductive Choices, formerly Marie Stopes, in Ealing, west London.

Under the Public Spaces Protection Order that Green was convicted of breaching, it is prohibited to display any “act of disapproval” of abortion, including praying and reading from the Bible, within the parameters of the buffer zone.

Often quoted by Christian pro-life activists, Psalms 139:13 was written by the Israelite King David and appears in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Ealing Council approved the PSPO in 2018 after receiving overwhelming support during the public consultation period. Explaining the council’s vote to approve the measure, council leader Julian Bell said in a statement: “I’m, personally, a practicing Christian myself, and so I think it’s important to recognize that this is about protecting women from harassment and intimidation. We’ve always been clear that that’s what this was about. It wasn’t a debate for or against abortion.”

In her ruling convicting Green last week, District Judge Kathryn Verghis acknowledged that the protester’s actions had been “peaceful,” Christian Today reports.

However, the judge continued: “The extract of the Psalm mentioning ‘my mother’s womb’…was an act of protest of abortion. There were less controversial verses you could have chosen to display. I can come to no other conclusion that [the verse] was an act of disapproval [of abortion services].. an act prohibited [by the PSPO].”

Green was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge, a victim surcharge of £26, and a costs order of £2,400.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC), Green said he intends to appeal against his conviction and that he would “rather go to prison” than pay the costs imposed by the court.

“Buffer zones and this conviction is a direct attack on the Bible and free speech, which is being licensed by the state. I have no choice but to continue to defend myself and fight for justice,” Green said.

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