That anyone in our country should not be allowed. How can we stand by and let this happen? I found this article on http://www.movementforabetteramerica.org/
Pastor Hoye Sentenced to 30 Days and fined $1,130
Rev. Walter Hoye of Berkeley, California was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $1,130.00 by Judge Hing of the Alameda Superior Court in Oakland on February 19.
Hoye was found guilty last month of “unlawfully approaching a person entering an abortion clinic in Oakland.” In fact, he had been peacefully carrying a sign reading, “Jesus Loves You! Let Us Help,” and offering women information on alternatives to abortion.
Video evidence offered to the court showed clearly that escorts from the abortion clinic had repeatedly harassed Pastor Hoye by trying to block his sign with blank signs of their own.
The hearing was eventful, and at one point a black pastor who was there to support Pastor Hoye was physically removed from the courtroom.
Dozens of African-American pastors from around the nation were there to support Rev. Hoye. They were outraged by the sentence. They called it “a travesty that Rev. Hoye was found guilty for standing in the gap for black children targeted by the abortion industry.”
“It is absolutely incredible that in America an individual can be sentenced to jail for engaging in peaceful free speech activity on a public sidewalk,” remarked Allison Aranda, Staff Counsel for Life Legal Defense Foundation. Aranda stated that “Rev. Hoye has a legal right to refuse onerous conditions of probation. Rev. Hoye will not and should not agree to give up his free speech rights. We will appeal.”
The court is allowing Hoye to serve his time through community service. However, Judge Hing ordered Hoye to stay away from the clinic. Hoye objected to the stay-away order as a continued violation of his constitutional free speech rights. The judge imposed the order anyway. Hoye may be jailed immediately if he shows up at the clinic.
Rev. Hoye is an African-American pastor who feels called to work for the end of the genocide-by-abortion taking place in the African-American community. An estimated 19 million black babies have been aborted since 1970, according to Dennis Howard, President of the Movement for a Better America.
“That is 7.7 times the African-American population of California," Howard said, "and nearly half (49.6%) of the 2006 African-American population of the entire United States. It is also 5,500 times more than all blacks lynched between 1886 and 1968. That is why Pastor Hoye and other black pastors feel an urgent need to speak out against abortion.”
Hoye said: “The silence in the Black American Church regarding the evil of abortion is killing us.”
That’s why he is willing to risk jail by standing in front of an abortion clinic in Oakland with leaflets offering abortion alternatives and a sign reading, “Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help.”
Meanwhile, Movement for a Better America is calling on all pastors, clergy, bishops, and lay people of all faiths “to join in a nationwide campaign of prayer and fasting to end this persecution of a man of conscience.”
Howard has done extensive research on the economic impact of abortion and its devastating impact on faith communities in the United States.
As an example, he estimates “that there an estimated 24 million Catholics missing because of abortion and the aggressive use of contraception. Plus an estimated 45 million Catholics who no longer attend church regularly. That adds up to a huge loss of faith as well as a huge financial loss. Pastor Hoye is absolutely right when he says ‘the evil of abortion is killing us.’”
Howard was also alone in forecasting the current economic collapse as early as 1997 in a special report that he is currently expanding into a book. For information, see "Can America Survive the Abortion Boom?" on this page.
The 2008 U.S. Statistical Abstract shows 654 abortions for every 1000 live births for Black and other races (a rate of 39.5%), compared to 221 abortions for every 1000 live births for whites (a rate of 18.1%).
According to Howard, “This reflects the targeting of blacks for abortion, the concentration of abortion facilities in poor urban areas, and the active support of abortion by liberal black politicians like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Barack Obama.”
Life Legal Defense Director Catherine Short and attorney Mike Millen, who represented Rev. Hoye, are currently challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance on Rev. Hoye’s behalf in federal court. They are hopeful the ordinance will be struck down and Hoye vindicated.
To join the movement to support Pastor Hoye, email your name and address to mba4life@aol.com and write “Free Pastor Hoye” in the subject line.
