Adam Smith-Connor praying / ADF UK
CV NEWS FEED // A British army veteran who prayed silently near an abortion clinic is facing trial on September 17-19 for praying in the legally designated “buffer zone.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom United Kingdom (ADF UK) reported that on November 24, 2022, Adam Smith-Connor prayed silently outside of an abortion clinic for approximately three minutes before local authorities approached him to ask what he was doing.
Smith-Connor, who is now a husband and father of two, had paid for an abortion for his ex-girlfriend in his past. He told the officers that he was praying for his deceased son. The officer told him that he was in a “buffer zone,” which consisted of several streets around the clinic, where pro-life expressions, including prayer, were forbidden.
A month later he received a fixed penalty notice, or a fine, which stated that he had been praying for his deceased son near an abortion clinic.
Smith-Connor also had a separate interaction with police officers outside of the same abortion clinic, and the officer told him, “this is England and it’s a public place and you’re entitled to do that.”
ADF UK stated, “The legal proceedings have continued for almost two years, and the trial is scheduled to take place for three days.”
The ADF also states that the defense for Smith-Connor “contends that a mere thought cannot amount to a crime, and authorities must not criminalise citizens for the opinions or beliefs they hold in their minds on any given public street.”
Smith-Connor stated before his trial,
Nobody should be prosecuted for silent prayer. It is unfathomable that in an apparently free society, I am being criminally charged on the basis of my silent thoughts, in the privacy of my own mind. It’s not different than being tried for a thoughtcrime.
ADF counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole stated,
In permitting the prosecution of silent prayer, we are sailing into dangerous waters regarding human rights protections in the UK. Censorship zones are inherently wrong and engender unhelpful legal confusion regarding the right to free thought. Both domestic and international law have long established freedom of thought as an absolute right that must not ever be interfered with by the state.
In August, the British police apologized and issued payments to pro-life activist Isabella Vaughn-Spruce after arresting her twice for “praying silently in her head,” as CatholicVote previously reported.
