Freedom Of Speech To Be Banned Near Abortion Clinics

[Guest sibon]

Just now, The_DADDY said:

What's the question?

 

27 minutes ago, Hecate said:

I've read their words about their own experiences.   Have you?  Is there a requirement for a minimum number of women feeling harassed before you count it as harassment? 

 

.

Let’s start with these two.

 

They should be easy for you.

[The_DADDY]

1 minute ago, sibon said:

 

 

You have this all wrong. Not so long ago, you were up in arms about just stop oil making it hard to drive. Now here you are defending a load of religious bigots abusing vulnerable women.

 

 

Gluing your face to a road and preventing emergency vehicles from getting through is a bit different to holding up a banner.

Anyway, seeing as your so keen on people's health I'd have thought you'd be annoyed at just stop oils tactics as well.

Just now, sibon said:

 

Let’s start with these two.

 

They should be easy for you.

No.

I don't decide if its harassment. That's the laws job.

 

Is peacefully holding up a sign considered harassment in the eyes of the law?

You tell me.

If it is the unlike some I'm happy to give it all some more thought and change my opinion accordingly. If necessary.

 

3 minutes ago, sibon said:

 

 

They should be easy for you.

Extremely 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, The_DADDY said:

My bold

Anti abortion groups are free to use whatever argument they like. People are free to ignore them.

And again, those emotive tactics result in the women being targeted feeling harassed.  Barring blindfolds and earplugs, I'm guessing that a suggestion to ignore the protesters and their signs and shouts isn't a practical option.

 

1 minute ago, The_DADDY said:

Underlined 

That's kind of the idea of them being there.

I don't agree they should try to interact with people coming and going into the clinics and if they do then that can be seen as harassment and they should be arrested. 

However the ones standing peacefully doing nothing but holding up a sign should be allowed to stay.

Quite.  The idea of them being there, at those clinics, instead of marching in protest with their placards through the city centre or gathering in a town square, is to directly target those women accessing medical treatment on the day that the anti-abortion group members gather there.  Sounds like harassment to me, and feels like harassment to the women who've been on the receiving end.

[Guest sibon]

13 minutes ago, Hecate said:

And again, those emotive tactics result in the women being targeted feeling harassed.  Barring blindfolds and earplugs, I'm guessing that a suggestion to ignore the protesters and their signs and shouts isn't a practical option.

 

Quite.  The idea of them being there, at those clinics, instead of marching in protest with their placards through the city centre or gathering in a town square, is to directly target those women accessing medical treatment on the day that the anti-abortion group members gather there.  Sounds like harassment to me, and feels like harassment to the women who've been on the receiving end.

As a general rule, I’m in favour of protests that target principles. No matter what those principles are.

 

I’m not in favour of protests that target individuals. Especially vulnerable ones.

[Guest makapaka]

51 minutes ago, The_DADDY said:

Is that an opinion or is it a fact.

You can’t prove peoples emotions - but  how would you feel?

[The_DADDY]

3 minutes ago, makapaka said:

You can’t prove peoples emotions - but  how would you feel?

It dosent matter how I'd feel. Peaceful protest should be allowed unless its considered harassment in the eyes of the law. I say that last bit because in an earlier post I asked someone, I don't remember who to tell me if the action of peacefully holding a sign was harassment. I'll let you know when I get a reply 👍

[hackey lad]

If the sign accused women of being baby killers, I’d say it was more than harassment 

[The_DADDY]

1 minute ago, hackey lad said:

If the sign accused women of being baby killers, I’d say it was more than harassment 

Already covered that 👍

[trastrick]

The protesters claim to be speaking for those without a voice.

 

I'm not against abortion, but if a woman decides she's going to terminate the life of a viable human being, weeks, days, or even seconds before birth, and expect the NHS (aka taxpayer) to pay for it, I'd suggest she should be required to get a doctors note, like we used to do if we took sick time off school, or work!

 

Some women I hear are serial abortionists? How many is too many? Some 50 million a year at the moment.

 

 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, The_DADDY said:

It dosent matter how I'd feel. Peaceful protest should be allowed unless its considered harassment in the eyes of the law. I say that last bit because in an earlier post I asked someone, I don't remember who to tell me if the action of peacefully holding a sign was harassment. I'll let you know when I get a reply 👍

You're right; it doesn't matter how you'd feel. The post of mine you responded to with a series of questions was about the women's experiences of feeling harassed and intimidated.  I said I'd read their words and asked you if you had, too, and earlier described and linked to the methods of harassment used by the group of 'peaceful protesters' that Chekhov introduced us to in his post yesterday evening. 

 

Beyond that, the discussion is just about moot anyway, given the potential for the introduction of buffer zones intended to minimise the effect of this apparently 'lawful but awful' behaviour by groups such as 40 Days For Life, and the posts made by others further up the thread countering accusations of suppression of free speech by quoting the appropriate legislation.