A man in the U.K. was recently arrested and convicted for silently praying outside an abortion clinic. Adam Smith-Connor was convicted for expressing “disapproval of abortion” with a silent and non-provocative prayer inside a “buffer zone” near the abortion clinic. Since the criminal punishment, Smith-Connor has warned about the “horrific implications” of the state cracking down on “thought crimes.”
“I think this has horrific, frankly, horrific implications for England. The idea that the state has empowered itself to peer into people’s minds and criminalize your very thoughts — that should terrify every freedom-loving Englishman,” Adam Smith-Connor recently told Fox News Digital.
Despite being charged with a criminal offense for exercising his religious beliefs, Connor-Smith’s legal team has maintained that it will appeal the case. “We will be appealing this judgment because nobody should be criminalized for their thoughts in the United Kingdom,” ADF UK spokesperson Lois McLatchie Miller told Fox News Digital.
Connor-Smith has warned that the ruling in his case should be disturbing to all those care about freedom of speech. “Quite frankly. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice. You know, the abortion issue really is a side issue here, really. This is really a freedom issue,” he said.
He added, “And if we so empower the state that it can make your very 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 could be a government you disagree with. But once you’ve established that thought crime is a thing. Then there’s no stopping what they can do.”
“We don’t know right now if that’s going to apply to silent stops like Adam experienced or to volunteers handing out or discussing options with women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies. But the wording of the legislation, ‘influence,’ is so vague that very well could be subjectively applied to punish people simply for the thoughts that they hold in their head, or the helpful conversations, consensual conversations that they have on a public street. So I think we are going to be in for a lot more of this in the UK,” McLatchie Miller further stated.
The Christian Tribune previously reported on the case against Connor-Smith, in which he addressed his verdict in court. “Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts – silent thoughts – can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right. All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind – and yet I stand convicted as a criminal?” he said.
He added, “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 thoughtcrimes are now being prosecuted in the UK.”
Former Conservative MP Miriam Cates commented on the controversy, “This isn’t 1984, but 2024 – nobody should be on trial for the mere thoughts they hold in their mind. It’s outrageous that the local council are pouring taxpayer funding into prosecuting a thoughtcrime, at a time where resources are stretched thin. Buffer zone regulations are disproportionately wide, leaving innocent people vulnerable to prosecution merely for offering help, or simply holding their own beliefs.”