The US vice-president has criticised the UK over a legal case in which a former serviceman who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre. In a wider attack on what he suggested is a shift away from democratic values across Europe, JD Vance claimed the “basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular” are under threat. Mr Vance referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who had denied doing so but was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order at the centre in Bournemouth in November 2022.
Speaking to delegates from European countries at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Mr Vance said: “A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.
“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before. “Now, the officers were not moved – Adam was found guilty of (breaking) the Government’s new buffer zones law, which criminalises silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within 200 metres of abortion facility. He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution….
“In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”. In England, where the incident involving Smith-Connor took place, buffer zones apply within 150 metres of an abortion clinic, rather than 200 metres as the vice-president appeared to claim. The case preceded the enforcement of the Public Order Act 2023, which introduced new rules on safe access zones outside all abortion clinics following a free vote in Parliament that received cross-party support.
A public space protection order had been introduced in October 2022 which banned activity including protests, harassment and vigils. Proponents of safe access zones say women using a clinic can feel intimidated by the presence of someone standing in the area praying, even if they are not speaking, and that those who wish to pray can do so elsewhere. Critics argue the rule undermines the right of freedom of religion and free speech.
