CV NEWS FEED // The nonprofit organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International is warning that Germany might adopt “UK-style censorship zones” that would criminalize pro-lifers praying outside abortion clinics.
The legislation’s introduction in Germany arises just as pro-life advocates plan to pray outside of abortion clinics during the liturgical season of Lent.
The new bill, according to ADF, “plans to introduce vaguely defined censorship zones, banning behavior that could be perceived as ‘confusing’ or ‘disturbing’ within 100 Meters [or around 320 feet] of abortion organizations with fines up to 5,000€.”
In October of 2023, police in the United Kingdom used censorship zone laws to arrest Isabel Vaughan-Spruce for allegedly “praying in her head” for unborn children too close to an abortion clinic.
Vaughan-Spruce has since been acquitted of all charges, but ADF reported that “two further individuals currently await trial for the same ‘thoughtcrime’. ADF International is supporting their legal defense.”
In Germany, the bill “is still open for amendments,” according to ADF, and “will be voted on in the parliament.”
German federal minister Lisa Paus supports the censorship bill. ADF reported that Paus stated “if you harass people with expressions of opinion that they clearly don’t want to hear, then this will become an offense punishable with a fine of up to €5,000.”
ADF International spokesperson Ludwig Brühl stated in a recent video explaining the dangerous truth about German censorship zones, “Of course harassment is rightly prohibited – and has been for a long time. But this is just an excuse to marginalize, punish and censor certain opinions.”
Brühl added, “Pro-life volunteers are there to pray, or to offer information about help available to women who would like to consider other options than abortion.”
ADF International Director of European Advocacy Dr. Felix Böllmann stated, “The right to peacefully pray is protected by international and national law. No matter one’s opinion on abortion, everyone suffers when we start to censor the right to speak freely, pray, or engage in consensual conversations.”
“The federal government wants to ban something but doesn’t know what or why,” Böllmann stated. “This law doesn’t ban ‘confusion’, it creates more of it – both for citizens trying to understand the law and police officers who will have to enforce any vague new prohibitions.”
