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Pastor Arrested for Praying in Front of Washington Abortion Facility
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By James Tillman and Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, DC, June 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, was arrested on Tuesday for praying on property where hundreds have prayed before - in front of the Washington, DC Planned Parenthood (PP) facility.
The grass and walkway between the facility and the road have often been the scene of peaceful prayer protests. Several weeks ago, however, PP built a fence around the walkway and put up signs claiming that the area is private property.
According to Mahoney and others, however, the claim is absurd.
“Thomas Jefferson said eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” Mahoney told LSN on Friday. “So if you don’t stand up for free speech rights, they can be stripped or removed. And that’s what we’ll be doing on Tuesday.”
Hence, at about 11:30 on Tuesday, after informing police of his intention, Rev. Mahoney knelt on the sidewalk leading to Planned Parenthood and began praying. A few moments later, police arrested him for unlawful entry.
“We’re not blocking what they want to say. We’re preventing them from trespassing onto private property,” said Diane Quest, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman, according to Congress.org.
But according to Mahoney and his lawyer Jim Henderson, this claim is but the latest of many deceptions by PP over this piece of land.
Mahoney told LSN that in the 1980s, Planned Parenthood claimed that the sidewalk was private property, and so pro-lifers refrained from protesting and praying on it.
But after Mahoney was charged with violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) act in the 90s, he discovered over the course of the litigation that it was in fact public.
lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10060911.html
TODAY’S HEADLINES | SEND NEWS TIPS | DONATE
SHARE: E-MAIL PRINT
By James Tillman and Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, DC, June 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, was arrested on Tuesday for praying on property where hundreds have prayed before - in front of the Washington, DC Planned Parenthood (PP) facility.
The grass and walkway between the facility and the road have often been the scene of peaceful prayer protests. Several weeks ago, however, PP built a fence around the walkway and put up signs claiming that the area is private property.
According to Mahoney and others, however, the claim is absurd.
“Thomas Jefferson said eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” Mahoney told LSN on Friday. “So if you don’t stand up for free speech rights, they can be stripped or removed. And that’s what we’ll be doing on Tuesday.”
Hence, at about 11:30 on Tuesday, after informing police of his intention, Rev. Mahoney knelt on the sidewalk leading to Planned Parenthood and began praying. A few moments later, police arrested him for unlawful entry.
“We’re not blocking what they want to say. We’re preventing them from trespassing onto private property,” said Diane Quest, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman, according to Congress.org.
But according to Mahoney and his lawyer Jim Henderson, this claim is but the latest of many deceptions by PP over this piece of land.
Mahoney told LSN that in the 1980s, Planned Parenthood claimed that the sidewalk was private property, and so pro-lifers refrained from protesting and praying on it.
But after Mahoney was charged with violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) act in the 90s, he discovered over the course of the litigation that it was in fact public.
lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10060911.html