‘Influencing’ UK abortion sites made a criminal offense as government plans to create nationwide ‘buffer zones’

The United Kingdom has extended its so-called “buffer zone” law to cover the area around every abortion center across the country, starting on October 31.

The national law, which applies to England and Wales, criminalizes the act of “influencing” someone’s decision to “gain access” to abortion services within 150 meters, or almost 500 feet, of any abortion facility, which critics say is violation of freedom of speech and freedom of speech. thought.

The move comes after nearly 60,000 people signed an open letter asking UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to protect freedom of thought, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, which is supporting legal protection for four people prosecuted for praying or suggesting help inside “safe access” or “buffer” zones.

“It is an offense to act with the intent… to influence the decision of any person to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic,” the Public Order Act states. 2023 reads.

Twitter explodes over clip of British woman arrested for silent prayer outside abortion clinic: ‘TERRIBLE’

Last week, Adam Smith-Connor, a military veteran and father of two, was convicted of silent prayer – a “thought crime” as some call it – after he stopped to pray for a few minutes outside a health center in November. abortions. 2022, according to ADF UK. The court gave him a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £9,000 costs.

Smith-Connor announced on Thursday, the same day buffer zones were introduced across the country, that he would appeal his conviction after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published new guidance clarifying that silent prayer ” not necessarily” is a crime in the abortion “buffer zone”, according to ADF UK.

“The government simply cannot be allowed to determine the content of thoughts and prayers,” Smith-Connor said during the announcement of his address.

“I served 20 years in the Army Reserves, including a tour of Afghanistan, to defend the fundamental freedoms on which this country was built,” he added. “I continue this spirit of service as a health care worker and church volunteer. I am very concerned that our freedoms are being eroded to the extent that thought crimes are now being prosecuted in the UK.”

Despite facing bankruptcy and being forced to cut “all non-essential spending”, the local authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council spent more than £100,000 on legal costs to prosecute the crime, with a maximum fine of £1,000. According to ADF UK.

In particular, the law’s vague wording has drawn criticism from free speech advocates, including ADF UK legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole, who argued that the law’s vague wording could be used to stifle consensual conversations or silent prayer. He also said the law goes beyond combating harassment and intimidation with a broad and vague prohibition on acts of “influence.”

UK WOMAN THREATENED WITH FINE FOR PRAYING IN ABORTION CENTER ‘BUFFER ZONE’: ‘VERY ORWELLIAN’

“Could this relate to advice given by a parent? Concerned word from a friend? Information provided by a crisis pregnancy volunteer?” – he said. “The law is written so vaguely that peaceful, consensual conversations or even silent thoughts can be made illegal on some streets in England.”

Igunnubole said consensual conversation or silent prayer constituted the most fundamental human rights, which were well protected under international law.

“The whole premise of the censorship buffer zone law is that women should be able to freely choose to access abortion,” he said. “The legal elephant in the room should be obvious.”

Priest charged after praying outside abortion clinic to decry criminalization of thought

“If the law says that a woman can freely abort her unborn child, even if it is to ‘obstruct’ legal alternatives to abortion, how can the law criminalize women when they choose to engage in legal, harmless, and consensual conversations?” he asked.

Women like Alina Dulgheriu, who refused an abortion after receiving a leaflet from a pro-life volunteer on a public street near an abortion centre, said the censorship zone was denying vulnerable women access to “life-changing information”. .

“Refuting the opportunity to get child support if we feel wronged is deeply patronizing and suggests that women can’t make decisions for themselves or that we might choose the wrong option,” she said.

“My case is not an isolated one,” she added. “Many hundreds of women like me have benefited from this support. However, we are too often ignored.”

Pro-abortion activist and charity volunteer Isabel Vaughn-Spruce was arrested twice for silently praying in her head outside an abortion center in the “buffer zone” of Birmingham, England. After Vaughan-Spruce was found not guilty in court, she later received a payout from the police for her illegal arrests.

In response to the new law, Vaughn-Spruce described it as “deeply troubling when a vaguely worded law appears that could punish people like me who were simply there to help, talk peacefully, or pray.”

“The government should urgently make clear that conversations between consenting adults – as well as silent thoughts and prayers – are protected under domestic and international law,” she said. “It’s not 1984 – we shouldn’t be controlling the thinking on the streets of Britain.”

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