London, England, Apr 10, 2018 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As a London borough considers adopting a buffer zone around its abortion clinic to keep pro-life activists at a distance, one such group says the measure would discriminate against women who are helped through prayer and support vigils.
The Ealing Council, which serves the west London borough, is considering the ordinance during an April 10 meeting.
It follows a report recommending that a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) with a censorship zone be set up around the Marie Stopes Clinic, which performs about 7,000 medical and surgical abortions a year.
“The report ignores the testimony of women who have been helped by vigils,” said an April 5 statement from Be Here For Me, a pro-life organization which is fighting against the proposed buffer zone measure.
“The PSPO is so broadly worded that it criminalizes offers of support to women, as well as criminalizing prayer,” the statement continued.
The council denies it is criminalizing prayer. Its report stays that “’It should be clear from the order that the only ‘prayer’ which is prohibited is that which amounts to an act of approval/disapproval of issues relating to abortion services … It is not a general ban on prayer and it applies only within the ‘safe zone’ defined by the order.”
Be Here for Me has said that Ealing Council has “swallowed the pro-choice narrative without question.”
The pro-life group has primarily advocated against a PSPO because of the women who have been aided and supported through pro-life groups outside of the abortion clinics. The group has published multiple testimonies telling the stories of women who have been assured and supported through the prayer vigils.
“When I was pregnant, I was lost, confused, I didn’t know what to do… I was worried because I was on my own,” said a woman who testified on the Be Here For Me website, saying she went to an abortion clinic to terminate her pregnancy, but changed her mind.
“When I got there I met a lady outside the abortion clinic… I told her everything,” she continued, saying that “if there was no one outside the clinic I don’t think I would have kept the baby.”
She also noted that “seeing my baby now, I’m so happy that I met someone that very day.”
Another woman said the protester outside the abortion clinic “was our angel,” and another noted that she “felt under strong pressure to have an abortion,” but was relieved when she spoke to someone who was offering support outside of the clinic.
The proposed buffer zone has come amid allegations of intimidation and threats from protestors outside abortion clinics.
However, pro-life groups have denied the accusations. Antonia Tully of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children told members of parliament that the alleged intimidation “is not what is happening,” according to the Telegraph.
Another SPUC spokesperson, Alithea Williams, has said that “if people were genuinely being intimidated then of course we would want to condemn that, but there are laws in place about harassment and intimidation and nobody has been arrested at these sites.”
The Be Here For Me organization is hosting a rally at the town hall on Tuesday as the Ealing Council cabinet meets to vote on the buffer zone. The rally aims to “send a clear message to the Ealing Council and the media assembled that there is strong opposition to banning help outside abortion centers.”
“This will be the end of a vital support option that 100s of women have accessed at Ealing in recent years,” said the Be Here For Me group.
If the Ealing Council passes the proposed buffer zone, it will be the first location in United Kingdom to have an enforced PSPO. Other locales, including Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Portsmouth, and two other London boroughs have considered similar measures.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has said that “behaviour that seeks to deliberately target women for harassment and intimidation should not be tolerated,” and a local Labour MP, Rupa Haq, has said that the buffer zone is meant “not to stop protests, but to ask protesters to instead make use of the many places they could protest – from Parliament Square to town centres … The women accessing clinics are not seeking debate – they are trying to make their own personal decision about their own pregnancy.”
The matter of buffer zones around abortion clinics is also being discussed in the British Parliament.
MPs have heard testimonies of harassment during a recent parliamentary committee, and Home Secretary Amber Rudd has ordered an assessment of protests outside abortion clinics. Rudd has said that “it is completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated simply for exercising their legal right to healthcare advice and treatment. The decision to have an abortion is already an incredibly personal one, without women being further pressured by aggressive protesters.”
Will Quince, a Conservative MP, told The Telegraph that “Looking at legislation to introduce buffer zones or exclusion zones for protesting around clinics of this nature is something we have to look at … I think we do need to be looking to legislate.”
In the US, a July 2017 city ordinance in Louisville, Ky., created a temporary buffer zone around the city’s only abortion clinic. In 2014 the US Supreme Court struck down on free-speech grounds a Massachusetts law requiring a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics, only to have the state legislature enact a new 25-foot zone.
Ontario adopted a similar law in 2017.
[…]
By illuminating the fact that The Office Of The MUNUS is “forever”, Pope Benedict illuminated the fact that “The Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably keep and faithfully expound the Revelation, the Deposit of Faith, delivered through the Apostles”.
Pope Benedict, by maintaining The Office Of The MUNUS, The Gift Of The Holy Ghost, The Gift Of Infallibility in regards to Faith And Morals, exposed the fact that there existed within the hierarchy of The Catholic Church a counterfeit magisterium that, in denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Spirit Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, Who Must Proceed From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Divine Eternal Complementary Love, The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, Pope Benedict exposed the fact that this counterfeit magisterium, which, in denying The Divinity of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, was attempting to subsist within The One Body Of Christ, while denying The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, and thus Pope Benedict exposed the fact that this counterfeit magisterium, in essence, existed in a state of apostasy, in complete contradiction to The Deposit Of Faith.
Dear Blessed Mother Mary, Mediatrix Of All Graces, Mirror of Justice And Destroyer Of All Heresy, Who Through Your Fiat, Affirmed The Filioque, and thus the fact that There Is Only One Son Of God, One Word Of God Made Flesh, One Lamb Of God Who Can Taketh Away The Sins Of The World, Our Only Savior, Jesus The Christ, thus there can only be, One Spirit Of Perfect Divine Eternal Complementary Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, Who Must Proceed From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Divine Eternal Complementary Love, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity (Filioque), hear our Prayer that your Immaculate Heart Will Triumph soon for the sake of Christ, His Church, all who will come to believe, and all our beloved prodigal sons and daughters, who, hopefully, will return to The One Body Of Christ, which exists From The Father, Through, With, And In His Only Son, Jesus The Christ, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) Amen.
Cleverly (!) maybe not quite a “counterfeit magisterium,” but rather a deceptive rupture between intact and formal teachings which are never denied outright (the Magisterium), and actual practice–a schizophrenic ploy of indirect signaling, photo-ops and insinuation–and, as wisely anticipated by St. John Paul II in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor (1993):
“A separation, or even an opposition [!], is thus established in some cases between the teaching of the precept, which is valid and general, and the norm of the individual conscience, which would in fact make the final decision [no longer a ‘moral judgment’!] about what is good and what is evil. On this basis, an attempt is made to legitimize so-called ‘pastoral’ solutions contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium, and to justify a ‘creative’ hermeneutic according to which the moral conscience is in no way obliged, in every case, by a particular negative precept [thou shalt not!]”(n. 56).
And…
“This is the first time, in fact, that the Magisterium of the Church [!] has set forth in detail the fundamental elements of this [‘moral’] teaching, and presented the principles for the pastoral discernment necessary in practical and cultural situations which are complex and even crucial” (n. 115).
And,
“The Church is no way the author or the arbiter of this [‘moral’] norm” (n. 95).
ND: there is only ONE , HOLY, CATHOLIC & APOSTOLIC CHURCH. No parallel magisterium!
Powerful words ND.
“God’s Revolution” is not over yet?
God bless,
CN
Benedict XVI was a good and holy man. He was an inspired teacher whose
sermons, books and reflections touch even ordinary non-theologians. His resignation
was a much lamented setback for the Church.
We were blessed to have two great popes in my lifetime: John Paul II and
Benedict. John Paul II has reached sainthood; hopefully, Benedict will join him.
May I live to see that. !!
In his later years as Pope I became very fond of Benedict XVI- his teaching, graciousness and gentle spirit. I would very much like the Church to begin the long process in examining his cause, and if he measures up, his eventual canonization. In the mean time I will continue to evoke his intercession. I thank God for Benedict XVI!
Please!!! I love BXVI! But enough of the “spirit of Vat II” (note the lower case “s”) led rush to canonize every Pope nowadays! It’s downright scary who is in the batters box after BXVI!!!
Here we go again. Yet another Vatican II Pope canonized. Despite the moral wreckage which they helped–by their negligence–to bring about.
Heroic Sanctity? In someone who delivered us into the hands of Bergoglio?
I’m a huge fan of Ratzinger-Benedict and when I met him in 2003, he was humble and other oriented—not selfish. He might be a future doctor. But let’s hold off. Wisdom says don’t rush, no? Saint Therese took longer. Francis Xavier took far longer. Joan of Arc far longer. The Church thinks and acts in centuries, we used to hear. In my private prayer for nearly 3 years I’ve both prayed for his repose and beseeched his intercession. Give it the required time and trust with hope. Full investigation into his life, transparency. Abandonment.
I am convinced of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XIV’s personal sanctity. His entire life will be carefully scrutinized, in order to ascertain heroic virtue. This man was a holy genius. Holy geniuses are few and far between.
Before he became pope, I was a so-so Catholic. As soon as he stepped out on the balcony of St.Peter’s Basilica on the day of his election, I was infused with a love for Jesus Christ and for the papacy. That’s the moment I delved into my Catholic faith with a sincere commitment. Not only did I read as much as I could of his writings, but I read the entire Bible, and entire Catechism of the Catholic Church, in order to be informed and educated about my own faith. This was the “Benedict effect” for me.
I was privileged to scratch the the surface of his opus: thirty-two books of his, and counting. His “Introduction to Christianity” is a recognized masterpiece. He leaves behind him a treasury of Catholic teaching, for generations of theologians to dissect, including all of his homilies and speeches. In fact, his musings on Good Friday, 2005, just before John Paul II’s death, clearly demonstrate that Ratzinger was nothing short of a prophet (reminiscent of St.Pope Paul VI’s prophetic voice in Humanae Vitae), discussing the filth that was in the Church and his comments about the “Dictatorship of Relativism” in his pre-conclave homily before his election as pope.
His quiet and humble demeanor was just one of his personal traits. When my beloved mother, who truly loved and respected him, died, I wrote him a five-page letter, in French (his mastery of French was exquisite, by the way). He wrote me back; I still have his letter (what a gift for me!). His sweet words and compassionate understanding touched me deeply.
I thank God for giving us this Holy Pope. I have no doubt that he will be declared a Doctor of the Church eventually.
Marie Brousseau: Catholic author, essayist, biologist and teacher
Author of “Defending Human Dignity: Catholic Answers to Gender, Abortion and Relativism
mariebrousseau.com
This business with Francis declaring that Benedict supported him and the “legalizing of homosexuality because it is not a heresy” -has to come to a reckoning, it seems to me.
Also to re-emphasize, it is bearing down on Pope Leo.
See references in my comments in the CWR news report on the removal of Bishop Strickland.
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/11/11/breaking-pope-francis-relieves-strickland-of-his-duties-as-bishop-of-tyler/
Marie Brosseau above (5:09 p.m.) – Ditto. During JPII’s time, I swallowed the MSM’s slanderous portrayal of Ratzinger/Benedict. How could I have been such a sucker?
Eight days left on the Catechism in a Year!
Cleo above (4:21 am) – I understand exactly what you’re talking about. Secular media set the tone by their subjective narrative. They negatively, and falsely, influenced a lot of people.
They did the same thing with Pope Pius XII. It is essential to get informed through proper sources. For Pius XII, the Jewish community has exonerated him, thanks to numerous documentation of his heroic actions, such as hiding thousands of Rome’s Jewish men, women and children, in convents around the eternal city, and at Castel Gandolfo.
For Benedict, the whole episode of his being enrolled in the “Hitler Youth” was a pernicious attempt to smear his good name. I discuss this very aspect of the subjectivity of MSM, in my essay called “The insidiousness of subjectivity”. I also devote space about Ratzinger’s views on the dictatorship of relativism in my book (Defending Human Dignity).
I have reviewed two of Ratzinger’s works, “The Spirit of the Liturgy” and his timeless “Introduction to Christianity”, on Goodreads (I am also a Goodreads author). I will soon be reviewing another of his masterpieces, “Jesus of Nazareth”, the first in his trilogy on Jesus, which he wrote as Pope Benedict XVI.
I highly recommend all of his writings to everyone: if you want to know this man’s mind, heart and soul, read his books. His autobiography, “Milestone”, was published in 1998:he recounts the first fifty years of his life, covering his childhood in Nazi Germany, forced service in Hitler Youth and the army, his calling to the priesthood, his theological studies, experiences at Vatican II, professorship, and rise in the Church up to 1977, offering deep personal insights into his formation and faith. Another gem is “The Ratzinger Report” (1985), in which he frankly discussed the state of the Church. His interviews with journalist Peter Sewald are also very insightful, especially “Salt of the Earth” (1997).
For insights into the bias of secular media,and other topics, such as “Lying by Omission” and the use of language to distort the truth (“Truth and Language”), you can read my essays which are posted on my Blog page, on my website (mariebrousseau.com), anytime.