‘Touching’ near UK abortion facilities to be criminalized as government plans to roll out nationwide ‘buffer zones’

The UK has extended its so-called ‘buffer zone’ law to the area around every abortion facility across the country from October 31.

The national law, which applies to England and Wales, criminalizes “influencing” a person’s decision to access abortion services within 150 meters (or almost 500 feet) of an abortion facility, which critics say is a violation of freedom of expression and thought.

The move comes after almost 60,000 people signed a treaty open letter asks British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to protect freedom of thought, This is reported by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UKwhich supports the legal defense of four people charged for praying or providing assistance within ‘safe access’ or ‘buffer zones’.

“It is an offense for a person within a safe access zone to do an act with the intent… to influence a person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate abortion services in an abortion clinic, ” reads the Public Order Act of 2023.

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Last week, Adam Smith-Connor, a military veteran and father of two, attended convicted for silent prayer – a “thought crime” as some are calling it – after he stopped for a few minutes to pray 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.

Smith-Connor announced on Thursday, the same day the buffer zones were introduced nationwide, that he would appeal 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.

“The government simply cannot be allowed to determine the content of thoughts and prayers,” Smith-Connor said when his call was announced.

“I served in the Army Reserves for 20 years, including a tour of Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms on which this country was built,” he added. “I continue that spirit of service as a healthcare professional and a church volunteer. I am deeply disturbed to see our freedoms being eroded to the extent that crimes are now being prosecuted in Britain.”

Although Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council local government district went bankrupt and was forced to cut back on ‘all non-essential expenditure’, it spent more than £100,000 on legal fees prosecuting the crime with a maximum fine of £1,000. according to ADF UK.

The law’s vague wording in particular has drawn criticism from free speech advocates. including ADF UK legal advisor Jeremiah Igunnubolewho argued that the law’s vague language could be used to address consensual conversations or silent prayer. He also argued that the law goes beyond cracking down on harassment and intimidation through a broad and vague ban on the act of “influence.”

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“Could this apply to advice from a parent? A concerned word from a friend? Information made available through a volunteer during a crisis pregnancy?” he said. “The law is written so vaguely that peaceful, consensual conversation or even silent thought could be made illegal on certain streets in England.”

Igunnubole said consensual conversations or silent prayers constitute the most fundamental human rights, which are strongly protected by international legal provisions.

“The whole premise of the buffer zone censorship legislation is that women should have the choice to access abortion without hindrance,” he said. “The legal elephant in the room needs to be clearly visible.”

PRIEST CHARGED AFTER PRAYING OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC SHORT CRIMINALIZATION OF THE THOUGHT

“If the law states that a woman can choose to abort her unborn child unhindered, even without the ‘obstruction’ of legal alternatives to abortion, how can the law criminalize women for choosing to engage in legal, harmless and consensual conversations?” he asked.

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

“Removing the possibility of getting help to keep a child in case we feel offended is very patronizing and assumes that women cannot make a decision for themselves 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 like me who have benefited from this support. Yet too often we are ignored.”

Pro-life activist and charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested twice for silently praying in her head near an abortion facility in a “buffer zone” in Birmingham, England. After being found innocent at trial, Vaughan-Spruce later received a police payout due to her unlawful arrests.

Commenting on the new law, Vaughn-Spruce described it as “very concerning to see vaguely worded legislation that could punish people like me who are just there to help, talk peacefully or pray.”

“The government must urgently make it clear that consensual conversations between adults – and silent thoughts and prayers – are protected under domestic and international law,” she said. “This isn’t 1984 – we shouldn’t have police thoughts on the streets of Britain.”

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