Man Who Was Charged for Silently Praying Near Abortion Clinic Pleads “Not Guilty”

Man Who Was Charged for Silently Praying Near Abortion Clinic Pleads “Not Guilty”: Amy veteran, Adam Smith-Connor has pleaded “not guilty”, to charges of violating the rules of a buffer Zone near an abortion clinic by praying silently outside the medical facility.

After the Uk parliament enacted laws in March, five councils in the UK actively implemented “buffer zones.” The law seeks to actively prohibit women from praying and offering charity assistance in the vicinity of abortion facilities.

Mr. Smith believed that he would not be charged since the legal deadline for filing charges had passed. Unfortunately, he was charged after he was caught silently praying for his dead son.

Smith-conner is facing charges under the public spaces protection order, which prohibits the “expressions of approval or disapproval” of abortion on certain streets close to an abortion clinic. Conner’s one such expression is praying along with “crossing oneself” in public.

He however has delivered a speech following his plea hearing at Poole Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning.

“We are standing in the nation of the Magna Carta, the nation which has championed democracy and freedom. We have a history of upholding human rights we can be proud of, and a respect for freedom that I fought to uphold when I served this country for twenty years in the army reserves, including in Afghanistan. Yet here I stand before you… being prosecuted – for a thought crime,” he said, reports Christian News.

His case is being supported by ADF-UK attorneys, who were present in court. Isabel Vaughan-spruce, who was charged earlier this year for the same crime also was present in the court to support him.

In a viral video in December, Vaughan-Spruce was seen being searched and arrested by three police officers after saying that she “might be” praying inside her head. She was later found not guilty by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

Smith-Connor’s legal team asserts that freedom of thought is protected absolutely through the Human Rights Act and therefore the Council has no power to prohibit silent prayer.