Silent prayer at abortion clinics again faces ban and criminal prosecution

After the ability to prayer silently in public finally acquired a degree of protection under the former government, that freedom is set to be taken away with any form of silent prayer outside abortion clinics once again facing a ban under a new law to be introduced at the end of October.

The UK Government is enacting new legislation from 31 October that would bar protests – which includes silent prayer for the women and unborn babies involved – within a so-called buffer zone of 150 metres of a clinic or facility providing abortion services, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The last Conservative government had informed police that silent prayer should be allowed inside the new “safe access zones”, following controversy and protests about Christians being arrested for what were in effect the first “thought crimes” to be penalised in the UK for centuries.

But the new Labour government has ditched draft guidance by the Conservatives that would protect silent prayer. The changes mean that silent prayer will be banned in the zones, although it will be at the discretion of the police to determine whether it meets the threshold for prosecution, the Telegraph notes.

RELATED: Home Secretary tells police that prayer near abortion clinics ‘is not a crime’

The new law has also scrapped exemptions allowing “consensual” communication within the zones, such as handing out leaflets or activists engaging those arriving at an abortion clinic in conversation.

The new law states that it is illegal for anyone to do anything that “obstructs someone from using abortion services or causes harassment or distress to a clinic’s patient or employee”, the Telegraph notes. The scope of its application includes making it illegal for someone to “intentionally influence someone’s decision to use abortion services”, which would in effect outlaw offering help or advice or simply a kind word.

Anyone convicted faces a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine.

Human rights experts warn that the ban on “influencing” is too broad, leaving innocent people open to prosecution for simply engaging in consensual conversation or even silent thought – thereby marking a return to so-called thought crimes.

“Good law should be clear, consistent and predictable but the buffer zones legislation set to be enacted is vague and broadly drafted,” says Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK that has represented and continues to represent a number of Christians charged for silent prayer.

“By banning ‘influencing’ – a broad and sweeping term – over an area stretching 300m in diameter, the law is wide open to misinterpretation and abuse.”

Those at the forefront of efforts to protect the unborn are shaken by the government’s move.

“The news of buffer zones being implemented outside abortion clinics is scary and heart breaking to say the least,” Eden McCourt, a 26-year-old activist with Abortion Resistance, a non-religious campaign group for young pro-lifers, tells the Catholic Herald.

“People who silently witness outside clinics are there to offer a last avenue of support to women who might feel coerced into having an abortion or who previously looked for help and never found it.

“If the Labour government and pro-abortion campaigners truly care about a woman’s choice they would allow women to stand freely wherever they wish – including outside abortion clinics – and they would allow pregnant women every opportunity to access alternative choices to abortion, which is exactly what they want to remove. This is not only a grave injustice to free speech and freedom of movement but also to women.”

She adds that “countless unborn lives will be lost at the expense of this reckless bill” while also cautioning:

“We are moving towards a dystopian Britain, where people will be imprisoned for their thoughts, as we have seen recently with arrests being made due to individuals silently praying near abortion clinics. This is a crisis we all need to stand against – before it is too late.”

The government, however, does not see it that way.

“The right to access abortion services is a fundamental right for women in this country, and no one should feel unsafe when they seek to access this,” states Jess Phillips, the Home Office’s safeguarding minister.

“We will not sit back and tolerate harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to health care, which is why we have fast-tracked this measure to get it up and running without further delay.

“For too long, abortion clinics have been without these vital protections, and this Government is determined to do all we can do to make this country a safer place for women.”

Silent prayer recently became the focus of a series of court cases in which Christian activists successfully argued that their arrest for praying silently outside abortion facilities was unjust and a breach of their human rights.

Recently, British police had to pay £13,000 in compensation to a Catholic woman who was wrongfully arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic.

West Midlands Police conceded claims of two wrongful arrests of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, along with false imprisonments, assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search, a breach of her human rights and to the onerous bail conditions they imposed on her.

RELATED: US commission condemns UK silent prayer arrest in abortion clinic ‘buffer zones’

The news about the proposed October legislation comes at the same time that a British military veteran, who says he lost a son to abortion, is on trial for praying silently in an abortion facility “buffer zone” in Bournemouth.

Adam Smith-Connor, now a father of two, was criminally-charged for praying silently near the abortion facility, and appeared on 18 September before Poole Magistrates’ Court for the second day of his trial, in which he is being represented by ADF UK.

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council filed the charges on the basis that Smith-Connor was praying within a censored “buffer zone” – an area covering several streets in the town – in which the council have banned various expressions of pro-life or Christian belief, including offering help to women and making them aware of resources available for crisis pregnancies, or praying for them.

“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,” Smith Connor says. “It’s not different than being tried for a thought crime.”

He adds: “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. 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 UK.”

The Telegraph reports that the College of Policing and Crown Prosecution Service are drawing up guidance for police officers who will have to decide whether they can “reasonably suspect” that any behaviour meets the bar of intentionally influencing, obstructing or harassing a person attending an abortion facility.

The new measure being pushed by the Labour government applies to any clinics and private hospitals that are approved under the Abortion Act 1967, and for any NHS hospital that has carried out abortions in the past year.

Safe access zones were introduced through the Public Order Act 2023, following a free vote in Parliament that received cross-party support.

“This legislation – including the decision to prevent those who feel they need to pray in front of clinics – was passed over 18 months ago,” says Stella Creasy, a Labour MP who has campaigned for the ban. “It’s vital that it commences without any further delay to protect the right to privacy of those making a choice about their own healthcare from those who believe it’s their right to stand in the way of them doing so.”

She claims that during the coming weeks there are plans for “another round of protests designed to target women accessing abortion clinics” and hence “it’s vital that the protection parliament designed to let them do so in peace is now implemented”.

The Catholic Herald has attempted to reach out to Labour to clarify how silent prayer – as opposed to loud or aggressive posturing by activists – stands in the way of those trying to access abortion services or how it might make them “feel unsafe”.  

The Labour party is concurrently pursuing other legislation of deep concern to the Catholic Church. It was recently reported that the British Prime Minister is seeking to fast-track an “assisted dying” law through Parliament before Christmas.

Sir Keir Starmer wants to allocate time for the consideration of a Bill to allow “assisted dying” soon after the autumn political party conferences are over.

He decided to accelerate moves to decriminalise “assisted dying” – a euphemism for assisted suicide or euthanasia – after Labour MPs dominated the results of the annual Private Member’s Bill ballot, the Mail on Sunday has claimed.

“The wheels are turning,” one Labour source told the newspaper. “It has been made clear to the MPs at the top of the ballot that the PM backs a change in the law.”

If the Bill passes, it could usher in one of the greatest social changes in the UK since the 1967 Abortion Act.

RELATED: Keir Starmer plans ‘assisted dying’ Bill before Christmas

RELATED: Five young Catholics explain why they are pro-life activists and marching for the unborn

Photo: A pro-life supporter prays with rosary beads outside the Marie Stopes Clinic in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 12 January 2016. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images.)

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