Thought crimes? UK law banning protesters from visiting abortion clinics leads to arrests for silent prayer

Recent laws in the UK aimed at keeping protesters away from abortion clinics are leading to arrests for literal thought crimes – where people who pray silently are forcibly detained and then fined for what’s going on in their heads.

The Orwell situation could serve as a warning to Americans who are too dismissive of government efforts to censor conservative thought, as was the case with COVID-19 protocols, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and countless other examples of real news being labeled “fake” for the sake of political expediency .

In the UK, local regulations called Public Spaces Protection Orders were introduced a few years ago, and last year the wider Safe Access to Abortion Services Act received Royal Assent, meaning the monarchy approves the legislation while lawmakers are discussing the details.

In real life, for citizens who oppose abortion, all this means is that they must keep their opinions to themselves if they are within 150 meters of a hospital or clinic where the procedure is performed – even if those opinions are expressed to them houses or their heads.

Isabelle Vaughn-Spruce, for example, was searched and arrested by three police officers in November 2022 for what she may have been praying for while near an abortion center, according to the International Alliance Defending Freedom.

She didn’t protest, carry a sign or interact with anyone, but that was enough for officers to receive complaints “that she may be silently praying in her mind,” the free speech group also said.

Although Vaughn-Spruce, co-director of the UK’s March for Life, was eventually acquitted, she was arrested again, this time by six officers, for a similar offense on the grounds that, while inside the “censorship zone”, as critics call it The act of approving or disapproving of abortion is outlawed, even “prayer or advice.”

The case illustrates the dangers of what supporters call “buffer zones”, says the UK ADF, adding that the laws will “inevitably be used by police officers to undermine the most fundamental freedoms”.

The Free Speech Alliance appears to have confirmed this view in its report, which states that while equality, diversity and inclusion are a “golden thread” and are closely integrated into UK police training, freedom of expression is not given enough attention, even though to the fact that it is codified by the Law on Freedom of Speech. European Convention on Human Rights.

A British free speech group reported last week that a woman named Emma (she chose not to give her last name) received a letter from a “respected resident” informing her that her home was in an abortion buffer zone.

A Catholic woman who regularly holds pro-life activist meetings in her home now worries that she will be arrested for it or for walking past a nearby abortion clinic wearing a T-shirt that read “Pro Life and Proud” or praying with her rosary on open air.

The letter Emma received noted that whistleblowing, a hallmark of communist countries such as North Korea, Cuba and China, was encouraged.

“You can report a group or individual that you believe is breaking the law,” the note reads. The buffer zone law carries a fine of up to $13,000.

The Free Press also reports that Adam Smith-Connor, a British Army veteran and father, was convicted this month of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England, and was ordered to pay $11,700, the amount he collected in one day on the crowdfunding platform. website.

“Today the court decided that certain thoughts – silent thoughts – may be illegal in the United Kingdom,” he said in response to the ruling. “This can’t be true. All I did was pray to God, in the secret of my mind – and yet I am found guilty as a criminal?”

His lawyer reportedly called the court’s decision “a legal turning point of enormous proportions.”

Also in Bournemouth, Livia Tossici-Bolt, a member of the 40 Days for Life group, joined another group called Christian Care to challenge the borough’s buffer zone, although the high court ruled against them and in favor of the Public Spaces Protection Order . also known as PSPO.

Even Catholic priests are not immune, given that Father Sean Gough of the Archdiocese of Birmingham (England) was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic while holding a sign reading “Praying for Free Speech,” and for parking nearby while there was a bumper sticker on his car. reading: “Unborn Lives Matter.”

Also in Birmingham, according to The Free Press, Patrick Parks was silently praying outside an abortion clinic when police instructed him to “kindly move to another location outside the exclusion zone where you have human rights.” If he refuses, he faces a fine.

Such rules could become even more restrictive with the UK’s Public Order Act 2023, which gives law enforcement more powers to prevent and respond to what they consider disruptive protests, which comes into force in England and Wales on Halloween this year. week – “effectively introducing the first concept of ‘thought crime’ into UK law,” says ADF International.

While there have yet to be any documented cases of people in the United States being arrested for silently praying outside abortion clinics, many protesters have been prosecuted for allegedly blocking access to them.

Paul Bond is an experienced journalist. You can follow him on X @WriterPaulBond.