‘Influencing’ near UK abortion facilities criminalized as gov plans to roll out nationwide ‘buffer zones’
'The government should urgently clarify that... silent thoughts and prayers – are protected,' one activist said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The United Kingdom expanded its so-called "buffer zone" law to apply to the area around every abortion facility nationwide starting October 31.
The national law, applying to England and Wales, criminalizes the act of "influencing" someone’s decision to "access" abortion services within 150 meters, or almost 500 feet, of any abortion facility, which critics argue is a violation of freedom of speech and thought.
The move comes after almost 60,000 people signed an open letter asking UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to protect freedom of thought, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, which is supporting the legal defense of four individuals prosecuted for praying or offering help inside "safe access" or "buffer" zones.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is an offense for a person who is within a safe access zone to do an act with the intent of… influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic," the Public Order Act of 2023 reads.
Last week, Adam Smith-Connor, a military veteran and father of two, was convicted for silent prayer -- a "thought crime" as some have called it -- after he stopped to pray for a few minutes near an abortion facility in November 2022, according to ADF UK. The Court sentenced him to a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £9,000.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smith-Connor announced on Thursday, the same day the buffer zones were enacted nationwide, that he would pursue an appeal against his conviction after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) released new guidance clarifying that silent prayer is "not necessarily" a crime in an abortion "buffer zone," according to ADF UK.
Adam Smith-Connor. (Alliance Defending Freedom UK)
"The government simply cannot be allowed to determine the content of thoughts and prayers," Smith-Connor said at the time his appeal was announced.
"I served for 20 years in the army reserves, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms that this country is built upon," he added. "I continue that spirit of service as a health care professional and church volunteer. It troubles me greatly to see our freedoms eroded to the extent that thought crimes are now being prosecuted in the UK."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Even though the local government district, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council, faced bankruptcy and was forced to cut "all non-essential spending," it spent more than £100,000 on legal fees to prosecute the offense with a maximum penalty of £1,000, according to ADF UK.
In particular, the vague wording of the law has drawn criticism from free speech advocates, including ADF UK legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole, who argued the vague language of the law could be used to crack down on consensual conversation or silent prayer. He also argued the law goes beyond cracking down on harassment and intimidation through its broad and vague ban on the act of "influencing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Could this apply to the advice given by a parent? A concerned word from a friend? Information made available through a crisis pregnancy volunteer?" he said. "The law is written so vaguely that peaceful, consensual conversations or even silent thoughts could be made illegal on certain streets of England."
Igunnubole said consensual conversation or silent prayer constitute the most basic human rights, which are protected robustly by international legal provisions.
"The entire premise of censorial buffer zone legislation is that women should be able to choose to access abortion without hindrance," he said. "The legal elephant in the room should be obvious to see."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Isabel Vaughn-Spruce. (Alliance Defending Freedom UK)
PRIEST CHARGED AFTER PRAYING OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC DECRIES CRIMINALIZATION OF THOUGHT
"If the law states that a woman can choose to abort their unborn child without hindrance, even the ‘hindrance’ of lawful alternatives to abortion, how can the law criminalize women when they choose to engage in lawful, harmless and consensual conversations?" he asked.
Women like Alina Dulgheriu, who decided against an abortion after receiving a leaflet from a pro-life volunteer on a public street near an abortion facility, said the censorship zone deny vulnerable women access to "life-changing information.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Removing the option to receive help to keep a child in case we feel offended is deeply patronizing and assumes that women can’t make a decision for ourselves or that we might choose the wrong option," she said.
"My case is not a one-off," she added. "There are many hundreds of women just like me who have benefitted from this support. Yet we are all too often ignored."
Pro-life activist and charitable volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested twice for silently praying in her head near an abortion facility in a Birmingham, England "buffer zone." After being found innocent at trial, Vaughan-Spruce later received a police payout on account of her unlawful arrests.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In response to the new law, Vaughn-Spruce described it as "deeply concerning to see vaguely-worded legislation come in which could punish people like me who are just there to help, to talk peacefully, or to pray."
"The government should urgently clarify that consensual conversations between adults – and silent thoughts and prayers – are protected in domestic and international law," she said. "This isn’t 1984 – we mustn’t police thought on the streets of Britain."