A British army veteran who was recently convicted for expressing his ‘disapproval of abortion’ with a silent prayer in an abortion ‘buffer zone’ is worried his case is just the start of an alarming trend of punishing ‘thoughts’ in United Kingdom.

“I think this has horrible, frankly, horrible implications for England. The idea that the state has given itself the power to look into people’s minds and criminalize your very thoughts – that should horrify every freedom-loving Englishman,” he said. Adam Smith-Connor for Fox News. Digital.

The father-of-two, a physiotherapist and veteran who spent 20 years in the British Army, was found guilty in October of breaching the local government’s Public Spaces Protection Order after standing outside an abortion facility almost two years, with his head bowed in silence. prayer. Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court sentenced him to a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £9,000 (or nearly $12,000) in prosecution costs, according to Alliance for the Defense of Freedom “ADF” Great Britain.

“We will be appealing this ruling because no one should be criminalized for their thoughts in the UK,” said ADF UK spokeswoman Lois McLatchie Miller. Fox News Digital.

Adam Smith-Connor is facing criminal charges for silently praying in a ‘buffer zone’ outside an abortion clinic in the UK. (Courtesy of ADF International)

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Video captured that day shows local council officers approaching Smith-Connor and searching him to reveal “the nature of (his) prayer”. After revealing that he was praying for his “deceased son”, he was warned that his prayer was considered an act of “disapproval of abortion” and therefore violated the buffer zone law.

Smith-Connor told Fox News Digital that she often prays outside clinics for people considering abortion, as well as for her son, who she paid to have an abortion more than two decades ago.

On the day in question, Smith-Connor said he had his back to the building and did not look at or engage with anyone before officers arrived. He was surprised by what happened because just a week before In this incident, local authorities assured him that he was allowed to pray outside another abortion clinic.

Abortion buffer zones will be enforced in the UK from 31 October 2024, making it an offense to influence anyone to access an abortion facility. (AP)

He said the decision should trouble anyone concerned about freedom of speech and thought being protected in Britain and the West.

“Honestly honest. It doesn’t matter if you’re pro-life or pro-choice. You know, the abortion issue is really a side issue here, really. This is really a matter of freedom. And if we give the power like that you say it can make your thoughts a criminal act then every one of us is in trouble because you might agree with the government today but in the future there might be a government you don’t agree with . But once you establish that thought Crime is a thing, then there’s no stopping what they can do,” he told Fox News Digital.

“It surprised a lot of people in the UK because it’s 2024, not 1984,” McLatchie Miller added to Fox News Digital.

This month, Adam Smith-Connor was convicted of praying silently outside an abortion clinic and ordered to pay approximately $12,000 in prosecution costs. (ADF International)

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Smith-Connor’s conviction comes as the UK launches extra buffer zones this week in England and Wales after passing the legislation in 2023.

The zones, which extend within a radius of 500 feet, make it an offense to “intentionally or recklessly” influence a person’s decision and prevent access to an abortion facility, according to Reuters.

McLatchie Miller said the law’s “vague” language about “influence” could amount to punishing people for having peaceful conversations on a public street or punishing someone for their thoughts, as in Smith-Connor’s case.

“We don’t know now whether this will apply to silent stops like Adam or volunteers who share or discuss options with women facing crisis pregnancies. But the wording of the legislation, “influence”, is so vague that it could very well be applied subjectively to punish people simply for the thoughts they have in their heads or the useful conversations, the consensual conversations they have on a public street in the UK,” McLatchie Miller told Fox News Digital.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court where she, along with Father Sean Gough, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, are accused of protesting outside an abortion clinic inside a censored area of ​​an abortion facility from Birmingham. Date taken: Thursday, February 16, 2023. (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)

The ruling against Smith-Connor comes after another Christian in Britain won a lawsuit in August after she was arrested for her silent protest against abortion.

Britannica, that was arrested for praying silently outside an abortion facility, received a £13,000 (about $17,000) payment from West Midlands Police in Birmingham, England, after filing a complaint accusing them of being jailed forgery, assault and wrongful arrest.

Fox News’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

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