An incident last weekend in Greensboro, N.C. suggests that while killing a fetus by choice is deemed an essential activity, protesting while people perform the act is not.
It took the coronavirus to show it.
According to the Greensboro Police Department, three men from a religious group called Love Life traveled from Charlotte to speak with family members of people who were inside a Greensboro abortion clinic. Police warned them to leave, and when they did not they were cited and charged under the Stay At Home order.
WFMY News reported that Jason Oesterreich, 42 of Locust, Justin Reeder, 34 of Huntersville, Carl Ubinas, 52 of Mooresville, and Isaiah Burner, 23 of Statesville, were charged under the coronavirus-inspired order.
Three of the men, Mr. Oesterreich, Mr. Reeder, and Mr. Ubinas, were arrested and charged with one count each of Resist Delay Obstruct Public Officer. The charges are a second-class misdemeanor, according to Greensboro police.
Greensboro Police say the men engaged in what’s considered non-essential travel under the stay-at-the home act. Police say the group willfully violated the order. They are the first people in the City of Greensboro to be charged for violating the stay-at-home order.
Love Life wants Gov. Roy Cooper to close abortion clinics and to classify them non-essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group’s website instructs members on how to protest, and conduct what they call a “prayer walk.” A six-and-a-half-minute-long Facebook Live video shows exactly how the incident happened, from the men’s perspective. In the video, as one person films, two men, including the founder of Love Life, Justin Reeder, walk towards the clinic and then at about 3:30 minute mark, the police show up
