Arrested By Police For The First Time For Representing The Unborn

[Preface: No, that's not me in Ronald MacDonald outfit...it just seemed like such an appropriate picture considering the treatment I received.]

I just returned from my “visit” to The Lantern, where a Press Conference was to be held at 11AM to announce the goals of a new religious group based in St. John’s, NL, named the “Religious Social Action Coalition,” a coalition aiming to abolish poverty in the province.

My previous post carried the press release which was forwarded to the NL media late yesterday afternoon by Vote Life, Canada! after I was alerted to the Press Conference by email.

I was hoping to have an opportunity at this Conference to clarify further my concerns to the religious leaders of this coalition, some of the members of which I have met on previous occasions prior to the formation of this coalition. So I was dressed up in my Sunday best, hoping to say a few words on behalf of the Unborn of Newfoundland and Labrador and of Canada.

I should have suspected something was cooking when I walked inside the building and around the corner were two police officers in full uniform. It was about five minutes before the conference was due to start. Walking past them and into the Conference room, it was only perhaps two minutes before a burly looking gentleman approached me with outreached hand, asking me my name, to which I responded. Immediately he grasped my hand tightly as if to hold me in that exact position while informing me that I was not welcome there and that I must immediately leave.

I was rather stunned at this rare gesture of welcome and advised him that the Coalition’s announcement that was issued indicated that it was a public event and that all were welcome. He said he would call for the police to remove me if I did not leave immediately and then motioned to another man who was listening to the conversation to fetch the police. I asked the burly gentleman why I could not stay and he told me that I had said some very bad things about them in yesterday’s press release and that I must immediately leave.

By that time the police arrived, telling me that my invitation was rescinded by these people and that I must immediately leave the premises, which were private property, or failing that, I would be removed by police.

It was becoming a little bit of a scene with voices being raised but no yelling or screaming. Since my knees felt a little weak, the officers promptly took me by the shoulders, body and bones, and literally dragged me out of the building, all the while I was yelling loudly so people could hear me “Poverty begins with the Unborn! Poverty begins with the Unborn!”

The officers took me to the paddy wagon [no handcuffs!], making sure on the way to inform me that my little media circus was not going to work. They locked me up for the hour that the Conference was taking place. I heard them discussing various things outside the police wagon and then finally they released me, saying they were not going to lay charges. They didn't call it an arrest. They noted that they had simply "detained" me.

Sure felt like an arrest.

I’ve had no calls from media yet although I suspect I will soon enough. As the officers were dragging me out, a news photographer was taking pictures and other media were present as well.

Obviously the religious leaders, many of them “Christians,” did not wish to have their hypocrisy highlighted. They had planned to silence me entirely before I could even say a word and they had arranged for the local police to act as their thugs and bouncers.

More on this story to come.

By the way, the statement that I hoped to make at the conference, given the opportunity, appears below.

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I am here today to represent the poorest children of NL—those who are denied the right to live. Those who will never get to the point of worrying about how much food, clothing, housing or education they receive. 

And I apologize to anyone here today who has gone on record publicly to denounce legalized child-killing. Looking over the names on this list I was not aware that anyone there had made announcements to newspapers or radios protesting the atrocity taking place in our midst. Nor do I remember seeing any of the above named individuals protesting in front of the local abortuary where five or six hundred little children each year are cut to pieces or suctioned to death. 

So pardon me, but I didn’t know anyone here was concerned about the challenges that the children of NL face. 

Forgive me.  

Today you are here to announce the fact that you ARE concerned about children after all. You want to see that children receive proper food, clothing, housing and education.  

This is a good thing. As I said in our press release, this is noble. 

However, what I find curious is that there still is no mention made of the children being ripped out of the womb. Does that concern the Religious Social Action Coalition? Is that not the greatest injustice taking place against children in this province? Shouldn’t that at least be stated as such by the Coalition?

Perhaps the Coalition is not ready at this time to tackle such a monstrous evil but shouldn’t they at least state for the record that this is the worst injustice taking place against children? 

Without such an acknowledgement the Coalition’s project has no credibility. How does the Coalition expect that poverty can be addressed—even abolished—while child killing is permitted? Will politicians respect a child’s right to be fed and clothed as long as they don’t respect the child’s right to live? 

But what the Coalition is really saying is this:

"Abortion? Oh, we’ve given up on that objective. That’s now legal and well accepted in our society, so whether it is or isn’t the greatest form of child abuse is irrelevant. People want it and accept it and the government says it’s legal so we’ll leave it at that.

We must work on achievable goals." 

I therefore have a question for the Coalition:

If the government passes a law today which says that the poor are entitled to no more than is currently available to them, will the Social Action Coalition then move on to another goal? 

Do you not see the hypocrisy oozing from this whole scenario? 

Do children have certain rights or not? Do they even have the right to live? That is the question.