Source: www.worthynews.com
Date: November 6, 2024
y Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LONDON (Worthy News) – At least 60,000 people viewing themselves as “pro-life” have signed a petition urging Britain’s leftist prime minister to halt a crackdown on those praying silently outside abortion clinics, Worthy News learned Tuesday.
Under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, legislation came into force last weekestablishing a “buffer zone” blocking “pro-life advocates” from any form of protest within 150 to 200 meters (500 to 650 feet) of facilities’ premises in England and Wales.
Britain’s interior ministry, the Home Office, said in a statement the “safe access zones” would ensure women accessing abortion services were better protected from “harassment and distress.”
Ahead of the law, a Christian man was already appealing his conviction for silently praying near an abortion clinic. Adam Smith-Connor, 51, said, “The court has decided that certain thoughts – silent thoughts – can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That can not be right.”
In what his supporters called “a shock ruling,” the Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court gave Smith-Connor “a conditional discharge” and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of 9,000 British pounds ($11,631), Worthy News reported earlier.
He was prosecuted after praying inside a “buffer zone” that was established by local authorities at an abortion clinic in England’s coastal resort town of Bournemouth in November 2022, Worthy News learned.
The area’s Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council charged Smith-Connor, a military veteran and father of two who fought in Afghanistan, after “an interrogation on the nature of his prayers,” his lawyers said.
NEW PETITION
Worthy News saw a newly published petition asking Starmer to defend those who pray silently and prevent it from being classified as a criminal offense.
In the letter, authored by the Alliance Defending Freedom UK, they argue that “buffer zones” have “quickly become thought- and speech-restricting ‘censorship zones.’”
“The slippery slope is clear; if the criminal law requires us to refrain from ‘offensive’ thoughts anywhere, there is simply no logical endpoint,” the letter warned.
“Today, it’s pro-life views that offend progressive social orthodoxies; tomorrow, it could be gender-critical views and gender-critical buffer zones. A genuinely democratic society must champion diversity of thought and the free and frank exchange of views.”
Directly addressing Starmer, the letter’s signatories urged the prime minister “to refrain from issuing guidance that ignores the courts, domestic and international law, and the fundamental rights of the members of the public who put you into power” and “act urgently to ensure that thought is never buffered, censored, or criminalized.”
Yet there were no indications Tuesday that Starmer, who has been on record for supporting “abortion rights,”’ would change the policy.