Nigel Farage is cosying up to the US anti-abortion group that challenged Roe v Wade. Women in Britain should know that | Zoe Williams
Briefly

Nigel Farage is cosying up to the US anti-abortion group that challenged Roe v Wade. Women in Britain should know that | Zoe Williams
"Nigel Farage's obsession with free speech has become the mood music of his own party, the Conservatives and the BBC, so it shouldn't have been shocking or troubling to learn that he'd testified in the US Congress on 3 September on the subject of this elemental liberty, and how profoundly at risk it is in the UK. His position we could recite in our sleep it hasn't deviated, and remains nonsense on stilts."
"The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is a conservative Christian lobby group whose allies include JD Vance and speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who used to work as an ADF lawyer. While their focus, brokering Farage's appearance in Congress (the formal invitation came from the House judiciary committee) is on free speech, the legal challenges they bring, both in the US and internationally, tend to use the issue instrumentally as a way to gain allies in their battle against reproductive rights."
"ADF UK has given legal support to people who've been prosecuted for protesting outside abortion clinics, breaching the UK's buffer zones, and to the midwife who was suspended from her job for making anti-abortion statements on social media. It also uses the existence of legislation against this harassment as proof of a free-speech crisis in the country. The two issues are thus conjoined in a ratchet, where any victory in one becomes grist for the other."
Nigel Farage's obsession with free speech has become the prevailing tone within his party, the Conservatives, and the BBC. He testified to the US Congress on 3 September claiming free speech is profoundly at risk in the UK. His claim that free speech is endangered is exaggerated, with only narrow examples such as elderly protesters facing arrest. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian lobby, facilitated his congressional appearance. ADF strategically leverages free-speech claims to challenge reproductive rights, supporting legal cases against abortion-clinic buffer zones and defending an anti-abortion midwife. The linkage amplifies victories in one arena to strengthen campaigns in the other.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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