British army veteran convicted of praying silently near abortion clinic

CNA Staff, Oct 16, 2024 / 17:10 pm

A British army veteran and Christian has been found guilty of praying silently outside of an abortion clinic, with the pro-life advocate facing a near-$12,000 fine over the verdict.

The Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday found Adam Smith-Connor guilty of silent prayer stemming from a demonstration he conducted in Bournemouth in 2022.

The court “sentenced Smith-Connor to a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £9,000” (about $11,700), Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, said in a Wednesday press release.

The conditional discharge stipulates that Smith-Connor “will only be sentenced if he is convicted of any future offenses in the next two years,” ADF International said.

Smith-Connor had approached a British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion facility in Bournemouth, in the southwest English county of Dorset, in November 2022. He intended to pray for his unborn son, who had died in an abortion he helped procure at a similar facility more than two decades ago.

He was initially fined for the prayerful demonstration before officials filed criminal charges against him.

In its ruling this week, the court determined that Smith-Connor’s display outside the abortion clinic amounted to “disapproval of abortion” because “at one point his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands were clasped,” according to ADF International.

“Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts — silent thoughts — can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right,” Smith-Connor said in the legal group’s press release.

“All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind — and yet I stand convicted as a criminal?”

“I served for 20 years in the army reserves, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms that this country is built upon,” he said.

“I continue that spirit of service as a health care professional and church volunteer. It troubles me greatly to see our freedoms eroded to the extent that thought crimes are now being prosecuted in the U.K.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole, an attorney with ADF UK, called the decision “a legal turning point of immense proportions.”

“A man has been convicted today because of the content of his thoughts — his prayers to God — on the public streets of England,” he said. “We can hardly sink any lower in our neglect of basic fundamental freedoms of free speech and thought.”

The legal group is considering an appeal, Igunnubole said.

This is not the only instance of British authorities arresting a pro-life advocate for prayer outside of an abortion clinic.

(Story continues below)

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Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested in December 2022 after silently praying outside an abortion facility in Birmingham.

She was arrested again in March 2023 on similar charges. Charges were ultimately dropped and she received a police apology over the incident; she further received 13,000 pounds (about $16,800) from police over the arrests.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have condemned recent legislation relating to prayer outside abortion clinics, arguing that the proposal represents a step backward for civic and religious freedom.

Under the Public Order Act, starting Oct. 31, buffer zones will be introduced around abortion facilities across England and Wales, constituting a distance of 150 meters (almost 500 feet) of “any part of an abortion clinic or any access point to any building or site that contains an abortion clinic.”