Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Pro-Life Blogger Detained At Religious Conference

Here's what happened to Eric Alcock, the author of the Vote Life Canada blog at the conference staged by an anti-poverty group named Religious Social Action Coalition:
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By that time the police arrived, telling me that my invitation was rescinded by these people and that I must immediately leave the premises, which were private property, or failing that, I would be removed by police.
Yes, RSAC did actually invite Eric to the press conference, apparently in search of support from the Newfoundland pro-life groups. Eric accepted the invitation, pledging his support just as soon as the Coalition calls for legalized abortion as the number one voting issue in the upcoming NL election. Apparently, once the RSAC found out that they can't just get a free publicity from the pro-lifers, they rescinded the invitation. And they kept the police ready to drag Eric out before he convinces anyone of their own that fight against poverty is meaningless until the society values human life more than pleasure, convenience and politics.

1 comment:

ELA said...

Leonard, thanks for blogging on this.

I made a posting this evening as well on a radio interview done today. It will provide a little more detail on the incident.

As I said to other bloggers, the near silence of the pro-life community on this shocking development is not only surprising but disturbing, considering it is not simply a serious violation of freedom of speech but a serious violation of pro-life freedom of speech.

If we are going to be shut out of public events and forcibly detained for speaking up for unborn children, shouldn't we be more concerned?