Three Key Takeaways:
- The UK has begun arresting individuals for silently praying near abortion clinics, with several pro-life activists facing fines for expressing their views in public spaces, leading to international concern.
- These arrests are tied to “buffer zones” that restrict any form of protest, including silent prayer, near abortion clinics, which critics argue violate free speech and religious freedoms.
- The Trump administration, along with civil liberties advocates, has condemned these actions, warning that such “thought crimes” represent a dangerous infringement on personal freedoms and could serve as a model for similar policies in the U.S.
J.D. Vance couldn’t believe what he was seeing from America’s closest ally.
The UK has started arresting people for what they’re thinking.
And Donald Trump was left speechless when he heard about these shocking arrests for silent prayer.
Massive fines handed out for thought crimes in the UK
A shocking wave of arrests has swept across the United Kingdom as authorities have begun punishing citizens for silently praying near abortion clinics.
Pro-life activist Livia Tossici-Bolt was recently convicted and slapped with a massive £20,000 fine (roughly $25,000) for merely standing outside an abortion clinic with a sign reading: “Here to talk, if you want.”
The incident was so outrageous it caught the attention of Vice President J.D. Vance and prompted an unprecedented response from the U.S. State Department, which stated it was “monitoring her case” while emphasizing “it is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
But Tossici-Bolt’s case isn’t isolated.
Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was ordered to pay a £9,000 fine for silently praying near the same clinic. When police interrogated him while standing 50 meters away behind a tree, they actually asked him, “What is the nature of your prayer?”
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce has been arrested twice for silently praying outside a clinic in Birmingham, though she was later acquitted. A Catholic priest was also charged for praying silently with a sign that read: “Praying for free speech.”
In Scotland, a 74-year-old woman was arrested and charged in February for carrying a sign saying “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.”
Local councils implementing speech control zones
These arrests stem from controversial “buffer zones” created around abortion clinics through Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) passed by local councils.
A 2023 national survey by the Manifesto Club found that five councils in England and Wales were using PSPOs to restrict activities near abortion clinics. But these restrictions go far beyond preventing harassment or obstruction.
In Ealing, London, the PSPO bans “engaging in any act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means,” including “prayer or counselling.”
It also prohibits “displaying any text or images relating directly or indirectly to the termination of pregnancy.” One man in a wheelchair was arrested for praying outside a clinic, while another was fined over £7,500 for displaying a Bible verse.
The prohibitions have now been expanded nationwide. Since October, restrictions have been rolled out to all abortion clinics in England and Wales under national legislation on “safe access zones.” Scotland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act came into effect last year.
Civil liberties advocates note these laws go far beyond preventing harassment.
“The bans on silent prayer are absurd and a grievous violation of free speech,” said Josie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club civil-liberties group. “People are being prosecuted for the crime of thinking something silently in their heads or offering someone the opportunity of a conversation.”
Thought police on the march
These arrests represent a frightening new frontier in the war on free speech.
Authorities are no longer just policing what citizens say – they’re punishing them for what they think.
Police officers are literally questioning citizens about the content of their silent prayers, treating private thoughts as crimes when they occur in certain government-designated zones.
While reasonable restrictions on harassment or obstruction near clinics might be justified, these laws criminalize the mere presence of individuals with certain viewpoints, even when they’re standing silently dozens of meters away.
As Appleton explains: “These are not crimes, but thoughtcrimes.”
The irony is that abortion rights advocates often frame their position around bodily autonomy and freedom of choice. Yet these laws undermine the very concept of individual freedom by giving the state power to police citizens’ thoughts.
“The right to abortion is one that is founded in freedom – the right of a woman to make a decision regarding her own body and life,” Appleton noted. “It is dangerous to seek to protect this right through absurd restrictions on silent prayer or holding signs. Freedom cannot be protected with tyranny.”
The State Department’s unusual intervention signals that the Trump administration is paying close attention to these troubling developments across the Atlantic.
As similar laws continue to be proposed in Democrat-controlled cities across America, these UK cases provide a chilling preview of what could happen if the Left’s thought police are given free rein in the United States.
