Cape Town Christian pro-life activist Peter Throp was today found guilty today of damaging municipal property and fined R5 000 or three months imprisonment, suspended for five years.
Sentencing him to double the R2 500 fine he received on Septermber 30, 2012, for placing pro-life stickers over illegal abortion stickers, Parow Municipal Court Magistrate Phakama Madina said that a clear message must be sent to deter people from taking the law into their own hands.
Advocate Darryl Cooke, for Throp, applied for and obtained leave to appeal to the High Court against the judgment.
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At an earlier hearing Cooke told the court that Throp’s actions were aimed at protecting women in danger of falling into the hands of backyard abortionists. The court heard that Throp had removed abortion stickers over two years only to see them replaced. He felt morally obliged to cover the abortion advertisements with pro-life stickers.
In mitigation of sentence today Throp read out excerpts from his correspondence with the City Of Cape Town which he said confirms that the City admits that it is powerless to remove illegal posters from private property or state property that it does not own.
He said:“ What is the cost to society if we sit back and do nothing? This is a question that I ask my conscience daily and I expect other concerned citizens to ask the same question of themselves.”
Prior to his court appearance Throp engaged in extensive correspondence with the City of Cape Town, seeking the support and understanding from the Mayor, Patricia de Lille, for his campaign of compassion. The City’s response was to warn him that he would be prosecuted if he continued with his sticker campaign. In November the African Christian Democratic Party said it was shocked and appalled at the City’s response to the proliferation of abortion stickers, and called on the City to drop charges against Throp and to rid the city of the abortion stickers and the backyard abortionists.
Commenting on today’s judgment, Throp’s wife Terry said: “So they have in fact gagged him from putting out ‘Value Life’ Stickers.”
She added: “The offence carried a maximum fine of R10 000 or three months and we believe that they would have imposed the maximum fine had we not made representation that Peter is semi-retired.The sentence given shows their intent.”
Various friends and supporters sent the Throps emails today expressing their dismay at the court’s ruling.
Silence in the face of evil is
itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless.Not to speak is to speak.Not to act is to act.
Mighty Men are proud of you Peter and also of you Terry as well. May God bless you and may He watch over you always. Kind regards from Piperjames War Piper 4 Jesus Christ and the Mighty Men of South Africa.
God bless you Peter. To stand against evil is to stand for Christ. “Remember what I told you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also”. John 15:20 (NIV)
you have more guts than I have to do what you have done – good for you making a stand!
Bless you Peter and Terry! Shame on the murderers who don’t care for unborn babies!
I am appalled at the injustice. Will be praying for an appeal. I so appreciate your bold stand for God.
Peter and I went to the Bellville Magistrates court today to lodge an appeal which should take 6-12 months.It is significant in a very sad and unjust way that abortion notices are displayed with impunity outside the entrance of the court. Thanks for your comments of support.
Terry
Thank God for people like you, Peter and Terry. I’m behind you all the way!! God is smiling on you. xxx
What an amazing story of incredible bravery and courage shown by Peter Thorpe. I nominate this man as SA’s hero of the year. Pity that the rape and murder of that girl in Bredasdorp is catching all the media headlines at the moment, otherwise this story might have received the wider coverage it deserved. Compared to Peter I’m a coward. I once walked into the Mary Stopes abortion clinic at Pier 14 determined to find out why these women were murdering their unborn babies. To be honest, I was not expecting to find the women to be dancing and celebrating their atrocious sins in the clinic, but I was still shocked as I walked into the waiting room and saw the fear, the shame, and the humiliation which these women were obviously going through. As I said, I lacked the bravery to demand an explanation from them, so maybe one of your readers who has actually counselled one of these perpetrators can tell me why they do these terrible things. Nothing can justify abortion, but I hope for their own sakes that they have a horrific story that can in someway account for them stooping so low. The recent USA elections once again opened the debate about whether abortion should be allowed to ‘rape victims’. One Christian leader there suggested that because only God can give life, an unborn baby as a result of rape should be treated with the same protection and right to live as any other baby. The liberals response to this statement was so overwhelming that even I am now confused. Because rape is a much bigger problem in SA than in the USA, I was wondering if your knowledgeable readers could please give me some Godly guidance about this ? Should we allow rape victims to have an abortion or not ? Like all other Bible believing and born-again Christians in this country, I long for the day when we have a government that would respect God’s laws, so this dreaming got me thinking. What should the applicable punishment be for those who have an illegal abortion – ten or twenty years imprisonment, or maybe the death penalty because they did commit murder after all ? I would like to make this one suggestion though : please don’t give the death penalty to a rape victim who has an illegal abortion. This would really be confusing and some people may even start thinking that we Christians are practising an extreme Muslim fundamentalist type of sharia law. Lastly, I love the posters that Peter uses which has a cross and the clear words “Abortion is evil”. That makes sure that everybody knows exactly how God and the church feels about this gross sin. However, I’m a bit confused about the two websites that are printed on the poster. Both are American websites that don’t give any advice or telephone numbers to potential abortion perpetrators who may be wanting help or some-one to talk to. Jesus said that even if we think about doing a sin then we have already committed it, so do we therefore assume that these women have already committed abortion in their minds and are therefore beyond help ? Your reader’s comments, especially those of male pastors, would be much appreciated. Sorry, I don’t have anything against women, it’s just that they tend to become very emotional about these things, and Biblical level-headedness is extremely important here.
Let us never walk past an abortion advert, without taking a key that is ususally close at hand and scratching out at least one of the middle numbers on the phone number displayed. No one could say this is illegal as the sticker is illegal. We could stop a death. If there is a woman nearby take the time to talk to her as Peter Throp once did and maybe you will save the life of an unborn child, as he did. God bless you and Peter and Terry. Value life!
Dear Barry,
Thank you for your kind comments.
To answer your question about whether abortion is justified in the case of rape..It matters not HOW the baby was conceived..it is still a human life and has the right to life and should not be murdered in the womb. Remember Gods commandment “Thou shalt not kill”
Thanks Peter, I think I’ll go out and see if I can find me some rape victims so that I can wave an “Abortion is Evil” poster in their faces. Should not be too hard to find a rape victim or two here in South Africa. That’s real Christian love for you, we do not want them to go to hell, do we ? Now I’m just waiting for some mighty wise man to kindly answer the other questions I had.
Dear Barry,Please,please, in the name of Jesus,I ask you not to go out and find a rape victim so that you can wave an abortion is evil poster in her face.Rather pray “After the darkness, the daylight shines through. After the showers, the rainbow’s in view. After life’s heartaches, there comes from above the peace and the comfort of Gods healing love.” ‘Value Life’mission places great faith in Gods healing love through repentance.
Dear Peter, “God’s healing love” ? But there’s absolutely nothing about “God’s healing love” on your posters which thousands of people are seeing everyday. Surely you understand that the opportunity to explain “God’s healing love” to every individual who sees your poster is virtually impossible. So if you’re so concerned about potential abortion candidates knowing “God’s healing love”, why don’t you explain that on your poster, and also add your telephone number for those who need help ? Seems like you may have a huge capacity problem. Don’t get me wrong, Peter, when I take off the cynical mask, I am actually very pleased to know that “God’s healing love” is somehow connected to your mission. Maybe it’s poor reporting on Gateway News’ behalf that has made me so cynical, but the thought suddenly hit me that people are punting for you like the ‘bookies favourite at the Durban July’, not really knowing what you’re capable of doing. And I am talking about things that would make the poster, flyer and sticker issues look like pettiness in comparison. So don’t worry about me, I am not about to wave a poster in anyone’s face right now. I have been an active pro-life worker since 1981 (some 15 years before our country legalised abortion), so I am not as ignorant or naive as I have cynically displayed myself to be. This is probably not true of you Peter, but over the years I have watched in dismay as the pro-life movement began to be hijacked by a mindless and heartless spirit, in the name of Christianity, that epitomises in every way the same spirit it is supposedly trying to oppose. How sad that we should use the devil’s methods of accusation and condemnation (let alone the anti-Christ’s strategy of ‘the end result justifies the means’) to try and achieve a Godly result. So who is going to cry out for the lives of the unborn ? It’s no rocket science really. I suggest we start by crying out for the women whose bodies hold these unborn babies, and then ask some important questions instead of being so quick with all the answers. Have we put ourselves in these women’s situations so as to understand their plights and dilemmas ? No ! (Incidentally, psychologists say that the clearest way to diagnose a psychopath is by their lack of empathy for others). Are we offering these women any practical help, guidance or hope at all ? No ! Are we saving more babies by the way we are behaving ? Definitely no ! In fact, our ‘rescue’ results are almost zilch compared to the amount of abortions taking place, and the church is the last place that most women who are contemplating abortion want to turn to. It’s pitiful to think that we can act so outside of the character of Jesus and then think that the backlash we are attracting is similar to the persecution which Jesus experienced. None of the above is probably applicable to you, Peter, and I apologise profusely if you have mistakenly thought that I was insinuating that. But we do disagree completely about the right of a rape victim to have an abortion. I find your attitude to a rape victim’s rights both disturbing and distasteful, so let’s move on to what we can agree on, although I find it too coincidental that the rise of reported rapes in this country almost runs parallel to the rise of reported abortions. Can you agree with me that a women’s body, more then anything else here on earth, is God’s holy sanctuary, and that when we men invade her body through crafty seduction, through manipulation, through emotional blackmail, through control or domination, or by any other unGodly means (let alone by force), we are actually decimating God’s holy sanctuary ? Do we agree that women are also not guiltless when it comes to fornication, but that the plumb line of God’s justice and righteousness in this matter has been so twisted and warped by us men, that it sounds very much like we are blaming women for the abortion atrocities ? What exactly are we preaching about abortion in our churches, and why are Godly wise women not standing up to bring the truth ? No, this is not the cynical me talking. As for you Peter, I would like to see the gates of parliament bombarded by pro-life stickers and posters, and every member of parliament receive a bombardment of flyers in their post-boxes. As for me, I will continue to show God’s healing love, one on one, to every victim or potential victim of rape or of sin, without insinuating or presuming it was her sin. As for the mighty wise men out there, I wish that they would start acting like mighty wise men and start teaching, preaching and discipling their sons and other men to start respecting women’s bodies. Blessings, Barry.
Dear Barry, For enlightenment as to the value of all Gods life, irrespective of how that life was conceived, please see ‘Lifesite News’Feb.4th 2013.” Rape victims travelling country speaking against rape exception for abortion” Terry
Thanks Peter and Terry for your courage which serves as an example.
Praying for you Barry. Something tells me you need it. No sarcasm in this. I too was once cynical. Thanks to Jesus for saving me from that.
In the interest of justice, please see Gateway news 7th March 2014 “Peter Throp speaks out after Supreme Court upholds his appeal over pro-life stickers conviction” See also the Western Cape High Court judgement ( Case No. A205/13) particularly Judge J. Griesel’s comments, page 4, Par. 9 and Page 6, Par. 12 and Page 7, Par.15 where he states that the Magistrate was in fact a party to serious misdirection on two levels. God Bless. Terry
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