Imagine being deemed an essential service and being encouraged to continue operating, only to be arrested for doing so. That’s exactly what happened to pro-life sidewalk counselors in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this month when they were arrested for offering sidewalk counseling outside of an abortion facility. David Benham is chairman of the board of Cities 4 Life, a pro-life organization that offers counseling, housing assistance, baby showers, groceries, and financial support to expectant mothers. On the morning of April 4, he received a call from one of the sidewalk counselors outside of Preferred Women’s Health Center letting him know that the police had shown up. Shortly after arriving on the scene, Benham was arrested.
Under both state and local guidelines Cities 4 Life, as a federally recognized 501(c)(3) charity that provides social services, had permission to continue operating and was encouraged to do so. They had even confirmed with local police officials that they had permission to continue offering sidewalk counseling just a few days earlier. The same order that gave Preferred Women’s Health Center permission to operate also gave Cities 4 Life permission to operate, but only Cities 4 Life faced targeting from local authorities. As Benham has rightly observed that “This is nothing less than viewpoint discrimination.”
In an interview with Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, Benham also pointed out the inaccurate reporting that happened at the time. Benham pointed out that Cities 4 Life had gone above and beyond to keep their counselors and the people they were interacting with safe, sending only three sidewalk counselors to the abortion facility that morning, using chalk markings to ensure that there were at least six feet between them at all times, and making sure that they were using hand sanitizer.
At the time of the arrest, people were allowed to go for walks, gather in parks, or play golf with almost no restrictions on crowd size. Offering an essential service after being given permission to continue operating, however, was grounds for arrest in the case of pro-life sidewalk counselors. In response to this blatant targeting of pro-lifers, Behnam has filed a lawsuit with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom to protect the right to defend unborn children. Arresting pro-life workers when they are social distancing guidelines while offering essential services to expectant mothers is nothing but an attempt to silence pro-life voices.
