Trial begins for father accused of silent prayer

By Ryan FoleyChristian Post reporter Tuesday, September 17, 2024

A father and army veteran has lamented the state of free speech in the UK as he stands trial for praying silently outside an abortion clinic.

The trial of Adam Smith-Connor, a pro-life activist accused of violating a public order to protect his privacy by praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England, is taking place this week. The trial began Tuesday and is expected to continue through Thursday.

The public space protection order prohibits people from “protesting, that is, engaging in an act of approval or disapproval, regarding matters related to abortion services, by any means,” including “explicit means, verbal or written, prayers or counseling” within a certain distance of the abortion facility. Critics of the public space protection order argue that the legislation is ambiguous and violates free speech rights.

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Law firm ADF UK is representing Smith-Connor as the litigation over the case continues. “It is inconceivable that in a seemingly free society I should be criminally charged based on my silent thoughts, in the privacy of my own mind,” Smith-Connor said in a statement released ahead of the trial. “It is no different to being tried for a thought crime.”

Smith-Connor stressed that he had “served for 20 years in the British Army Reserve, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms on which this country is built”.

He added: “I continue to demonstrate such a spirit of service as a health professional and a volunteer in the Church. I am deeply troubled to see our freedoms eroded to the point that thought crimes are now prosecuted in the UK.”

“By allowing silent prayer to continue, we are navigating dangerous waters for the protection of human rights in the UK,” commented Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal adviser to ADF UK. He denounced the Public Space Protection Order implemented by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council which governs Bournemouth as an “unconstitutional censorship zone”.

Igunnubole lambasted the “censorship zones” as “fundamentally wrong” because they “create unnecessary legal confusion regarding the right to freedom of thought.” He insisted that “national and international law has long established freedom of thought as an absolute right that must never be curtailed by the state.”

Igunnubole expressed concern about an article in the Telegraph suggesting that “ministers are considering criminalising ‘silent prayer’ in their ‘buffer zone’ guidelines”, which would restrict the ability to protest outside abortion clinics across the country. He warned that “to do so would not only be a serious legal error, but could pave the way for human rights abuses similar to those suffered by Adam Smith-Connor”.

Smith-Connor was confronted by law enforcement in November 2022 while silently praying outside the abortion facility. Video of the encounter shows officers asking him why he was there, prompting the Army veteran to respond, “I pray.”

When law enforcement informed Smith-Connor of the public space protection order, he said he was aware of it. “I pray for my son,” he responded.

One of the officers asked Smith-Connor to clarify the content of his prayer and asked if it was “relevant to the area” where he was standing. After Smith-Connor explained that his son had “died,” the officer told him he was “violating” the public space protection order.

According to ADF UK, Smith-Connor had “paid for an abortion for his ex-girlfriend in the past” and was praying “for his experience, for the child he lost and for the men and women who now have to make difficult decisions about abortion”. The law firm claimed that Smith-Connor, who now regrets his role in the abortion of his child, “prayed with his back to the centre to avoid any perception of approaching or interacting with women using the centre”.

While the officers who confronted Smith-Connor as he prayed silently outside the clinic in November 2022 insisted he was breaking the law, another pair of law enforcement officers who encountered him as he prayed outside the clinic five days earlier came to a different conclusion.

Video footage of the earlier encounter, shared by ADF UK on X, shows an officer telling Smith-Connor: “We discussed that you stand behind the tree, so most of the time you’re out of sight of the clinic, you don’t approach anyone, you don’t pray openly, you don’t protest, nothing like that.”

“What you’re doing now, you can do,” the officer added. “I can’t force you to leave because this is a public place and you have the right to stay here and do what you’re doing.”

ADF UK reported that the BCP Council has incurred more than £34,000, or $44,853.94, in legal fees to prosecute Smith-Connor for an offence that carries a maximum penalty of £1,000, or $1,319.23.

Smith-Connor is not the first person in the UK to be prosecuted for praying silently outside an abortion clinic. Pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested and confronted by police in 2022 and 2023 for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham. Last month, West Midlands Police awarded Vaughan-Spruce nearly $17,000 in compensation in what ADF UK described as an “acknowledgment of her unfair treatment”.