Priest charged after praying outside of abortion clinic says free speech is 'threatened'
Father Sean Gough and attorney Lorcan Price call out laws restricting protesters from praying outside of clinics on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
A U.K. priest charged after praying outside of an abortion clinic said free speech is being threatened in his country.
"Nobody should be criminalized for the thoughts that they're having in their own head, and this is what I was threatened with arrest for," Father Sean Gough told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Wednesday. "I wasn't actually arrested, but I was interrogated for it and questioned about the thoughts that I was having in my own head, my prayers to God, and then I was charged for doing just this."
Attorney Lorcan Price, who described the situation as "sinister," said established censorship zones, which stretch for 160 yards from a clinic, prohibit citizens from praying and offering to help women.
Gough, who was standing outside a Birmingham clinic, was holding a sign that read "praying for freedom of speech," which he said is under threat.
Father Sean Gough, who was charged for praying outside of a U.K. abortion clinic speaks out on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." (Fox News)
"Perhaps the most absurd charge that was laid against me is that I was also charged for having a bumper sticker on my car which says ‘Unborn Lives Matter’ and I parked this within the censorship zone, which the local council had established," he said.
The Crown Prosecution Service dropped his charges, according to ADF UK, but they could be reinstated.
Gough’s case is not the only instance U.K. officials tried charge pro-life protesters.
Charges were recently dropped against U.K. March for Life Director Isabel Vaughan-Spruce after police approached her while standing outside an abortion clinic when an onlooker suspected she was praying.
The Crown Prosecution Service warned her that charges could continue in the future, according to a previous Fox News Digital report.
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Charges were dropped against Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic last December, seen here with Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK. (ADF UK)
Price explained how these instances shed light on the threats against freedom of speech.
"People are waking up, starting to realize really that rights that had [been] taken for granted, that have been well established in the history of this country, are being eroded significantly over the last number of years."
Parliament is expected to debate expanding censorship zones in the coming weeks, Price said.
Fox News Digital's Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
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