UK threatens unlimited fines for ‘influencing’ near abortion centers
The British government last week threatened unlimited fines for anyone who “influences someone’s decision to use abortion services” near an abortion facility.
“Safe access buffer zones will make it illegal for anyone to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment or distress to someone using or working at these premises,” the government announced Tuesday. “The law will apply within a 150 metre radius of the abortion service provider.”
“Anyone found guilty of breaking the law will face an unlimited fine. The College of Policing and Crown Prosecution Service will publish guidance for police and prosecutors ahead of 31 October, to ensure there is clarity and consistency with the enforcement of the new offence.”
The Home Office did not explain what constitutes “influencing,” but Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips claimed the new rule is necessary to protect abortion clinics.
“For too long abortion clinics have been without these vital protections, and this government is determined to do all we can do to make this country a safer place for women,” Phillips said.
British taxpayers arrested for thinking outside abortion centers
Abortion facilities in the UK are so well-fortified that a taxpayer can be arrested for thinking of a prayer near one.
Last week, trial proceedings began for Adam Smith-Connor, a British veteran who was arrested in December 2022 for silently praying in his mind near an abortion center.
Smith-Connor was quietly standing with his back to an abortion center in Bournemouth in January when he was approached by law enforcement officers who asked him what he was doing.
“Well, I’m praying,” Smith-Connor answered.
An officer notified him that he was in an area governed by a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), otherwise called a “safe zone” or “censorship zone” which prohibits “protesting, namely engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling.”
PSPOs are laws set by local government councils which regulate public activity to ward off “anti-social behaviour.”
Smith-Connor replied that he was aware prayer is outlawed in the vicinity.
“Can I ask what is the nature of your prayer today?” the officer asked.
The 49-year-old responded that he was praying for his dead son, who was killed by an abortion Smith-Connor had arranged twenty years prior.
The officer said they had to follow orders, and issued Smith-Connor a £100 ($127) fine for “the prayer that you’ve admitted to.” Smith-Conner was also criminally charged with breaching a public spaces protection order.
Smith-Connor’s trial commenced last week at Poole Magistrates’ Court after two years of legal proceedings. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the legal group defending Smith-Connor, estimates that the prosecution has spent £34,000 ($45,296) in taxpayer funds to prosecute a crime that (for now) carries a maximum fine of £1,000 ($1,332).
The arrest came the month after a British woman was searched and arrested for also mentally praying, this time outside a closed abortion facility. The Crown Prosecution Service, which originally charged Isabel Vaughan-Spruce with “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users,” later dropped the charges due to “insufficient evidence” but said they “may well start again” pending further evidence.
