will risk jail again,' says pro-life pensioner

BY FREDDY GRAY THE PENSIONER who was imprisoned for sending pictures of aborted foetuses to his local hospital has promised to continue showing people the reality of abortion even if it means spending the rest of his life in jail.
Edward Atkinson, 74, of King's Lynn, Norfolk, said that he would carry on circulating horrific images of aborted foetuses. "Yes I am definitely prepared to go to jail again," he said. "Maybe it's my mission to be a prisoner. I've got many health problems, I don't have much time left. but if that is where God thinks J need to be, then so be it."
Mr Atkinson was released from jail last week after a 28day sentence for posting pictures of aborted babies and other shocking material to staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn.
He was also fined £500 and given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo), which means he could face five years behind bars if he re-offends.
Having struck him off a waiting list for a hip replacement, the hospital is still refusing him medical treatment. The UK LifeLeague, the militant antiabortion group that led protests against Mr Atkinson's incarceration, is now urging the pensioner to adopt "a more subtle strategy".
Director James Dowson said: "For health reasons we don't want to see a 74-year-old man spend five years in jail, but the decision is with him and the UK LifeLeague will support him whatever he chooses to do. He is a brave and righteous man."
Other groups have also offered support for Mr Atkinson. Michaela O'Sullivan of Life, a pro-life counselling charity, said that her group disapproves of using obscene pictures, but added that the Atkinson case was nevertheless "a travesty".
She said: "We are delighted that he has been let out and justice has been done in this respect, but now he must be put back on the treatment waiting list. There is an awful hypocrisy about this — this trying to annihilate the pro-life position. It is a denial of the right to hold prolife views."
Julia Millington of the ProLife Alliance also offered support for Mr Atkinson.
She said: "It is alarming that Mr Atkinson's attempt to exercise his right to express his opposition to abortion has resulted not only in him being denied medical treatment, but also in him losing his liberty. What kind of democracy are we living in'?"
The hospital this week defended its decision to strike Mr Atkinson off the hip replacement waiting list. "These pictures were of very late pregnancies or stillborn babies," said Karl Perryman, complaints and litigation manager of Queen Elizabeth's. "I can assure you that that does not happen at this hospital. We did not take this step lightly. But we have a zerotolerance policy to the abuse of our staff."
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital carries out about 280 abortions every year.
Mr Perryman said that, as well as the images, Mr Atkinson had sent in an A3 sheet of piper with a long and "sickening" diatribe about homosexual sex. "It was pornographic and deeply offensive to members of our staff," he said.
Mr Atkinson said the document was "explicit hut not pornographic". Mr Dowson added: "I find it extremely unlikely that he would write anything pornographic, seeing as he spends a lot of his time campaigning against pornography." Mr Atkinson has been arrested more than 15 times for similar offences.