A judge in the United Kingdom has ruled that an accurate image depicting an abortion is "sickening" and "horrific," and that's why he says a city can ban it.
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The ruling from Judge Jonathan Radway will be appealed, according to the U.K.-based charity Christian Concern.
Pro-life advocate Christian Hacking of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform UK was issued a legal notice that banned him from showing large images of unborn babies in the borough of Waltham Forest.
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Police confiscated the images in an action authorities "admitted was unlawful," Christian Concern said.
Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which has worked on the case, said: "The judgment says that this case 'is not about the rights and wrongs of abortion.' But it is impossible to disentangle this distressing image from the disturbing reality it shows."
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Williams explained the ruling hinges on the idea that the image of the reality of abortion causes lasting emotional harm.
"But however uncomfortable the truth, we must be free to make these distressing realities known – or the vastly more horrific truth of abortion becomes immune to criticism," Williams said.
"There is a high bar to restricting free speech. Freedom of speech must include, and has been ruled in law to include, that which is shocking, provocative and offensive. Political campaigns are often shocking and disturbing. Graphic images of cancers are used in government advertising to persuade people not to smoke, for example. Abortion is by its nature a graphic deed. It is a bloody destruction of a human life. This is what was being exposed."
The judge ruled that the city's order against Hacking violated his rights to freedom of expression, but he said that was all right because "some members" of the public found the images offensive.
Hacking said, in a statement released by his lawyers: "I am deeply disappointed that our appeal to show the reality of abortion to the people of Waltham Forest has not been successful. The real victim of abortion is not MP Stella Creasy, or those negatively impacted by its visualization, but the unborn child."
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Hacking was taking part in a #StopStella campaign last year that targeted MP Stella Creasy's campaign for election.
Her position is that abortion should be legal for any reason as late as 28 weeks.
In response, Creasy demanded police intervene to shut down the campaign.
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