A British army veteran and Christian man has been convicted for praying silently outside of an abortion clinic.
The Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday sentenced Adam Smith-Connor, a father of two, to a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay more than £9,000 ($11,500) in costs, BBC reported.
The conditional discharge stipulates that Smith-Connor “will only be sentenced if he is convicted of any future offenses in the next two years,” ADF International said.
Smith-Connor had approached a British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion facility in Bournemouth, in the southwest English county of Dorset, in November 2022. He intended to pray for his unborn son, who had died in an abortion he helped procure at a similar facility more than two decades ago.
He was initially fined for the prayerful demonstration before officials filed criminal charges against him, according to Catholic News Agency.
In its ruling this week, the court determined that Smith-Connor’s display outside the abortion clinic amounted to “disapproval of abortion” because “at one point his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands were clasped,” according to ADF International.
“Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts — silent thoughts — can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right,” Smith-Connor said in the legal group’s press release.
“All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind — and yet I stand convicted as a criminal?”
“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,” he said.
“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 U.K.”
Last modified: October 21, 2024
