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German court upholds ban on prayer vigil outside abortion advice center

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A German has court has upheld a municipality ban on prayer vigils held in front of a pre-abortion advisory center, Catholic World reports. On May 14 the Karlsruhe Administrative Court dismissed a challenge to the ban by Pavica Vojnović, who had organized bi-annual prayer vigils outside the Pro Familia advice center, an International Planned Parenthood associate in Pforzheim, southwest Germany.

As part of the US-founded 40 Days for Life pro-life advocacy movement, twice a year some 20 people gathered in front of the Pro Familia center to pray for women planning abortion and their unborn children, Catholic World reports.

Although the prayer group did not block the sidewalk or hinder access to the center in any way, Pro Familia called the police and asked that the vigil be moved further away or canceled altogether, Catholic World said. The police found no evidence of violations by the activists but, in 2019, the Pforzheim municipality denied them permission to pray near the center.

When prayer group leader Pavica Vojnović launched a legal challenge to the municipality’s decision, the challenge was dismissed by the Karlsruhe Administrative Court. “Every life is precious and deserves protection. I am saddened that we are prevented from supporting vulnerable women and their unborn children in prayer,” Vojnović said in a statement about the ruling.

Legal Counsel for the prayer group, Felix Böllmann of ADF International, said in a separate statement: “We are still awaiting the reasons for the verdict, but the dismissal of the case obviously fails to recognize that freedom of expression is the foundation of any free and fair democracy. What kind of society denies prayer to women and children in need?”