An Australian pro-lifer who was fined $5K and convicted for speaking about abortion in a censorship zone has spoken out publicly.
Kathy Clubb was arrested in October 2016 by Victoria Police near an abortion centre in East Melbourne.
Recalling the events in a recent piece for LifeSite News, Clubb wrote that:
“After some time, I approached a couple who were about to enter the abortion mill and offered to help them. The encounter took no more than five seconds and ended with them declining my help.
“This five-second encounter was to earn me a $5,000 fine, a good behavior bond, and a criminal record.”
Clubb pointed out that several courts had noted the couple were not visibly distressed by her actions, and there was no shouting or abuse.
She was convicted in the Magistrates Court in 2017.
“But not before the magistrate subjected me to highly offensive questioning at the sentencing. ‘How many fathers do your children have?’ and ‘Why are you homeschooling?’ were among the many irrelevant questions asked by this magistrate,” wrote Clubb.
In April 2019, an appeal to the High Court on the basis that the censorship laws infringe the implied right to political communication was unanimously rejected.
Clubb’s most recent appeal to the Victorian Supreme Court on the basis that there was no evidence that she communicated about abortion in the censorship zone also failed last week.
“It is so strange to think of trying to save lives as being a criminal activity while killing babies is the legal one. I was placed on a good behavior bond and given a stern admonition that had I not had a family, I would have been sent to prison,” wrote Clubb.
“In our ‘enlightened’ Australian culture, killing babies is a protected activity, offering help is against the law, and thoughtcrime has become a legal reality,” she concluded.