A medical scientist will stand trial in a freedom of speech case in the United Kingdom (UK), because she simply held a sign outside an abortion facility, offering women an invitation to speak with her if they desired.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, Livia Tossici-Bolt stood outside an abortion facility in Bournemouth last year holding a sign that read, “Here to talk, if you want to.” Several people did take her up on the offer, engaging in peaceful conversation about certain problems and issues in their lives.
Authorities then confronted Tossici-Bolt, telling her she had violated a buffer zone policy which bans any expression that might be perceived as disapproving of abortion. Police gave her a Fixed Penalty Notice, and when she refused to pay the fine, the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council issued charges against her. Tossici-Bolt contends that she did nothing to violate the buffer zone, as all she did was have conversations with people of their own free choice.
“For several years now, I have been offering a helping hand to women who would like to consider other options to abortion, and pointing them to options where they can receive financial and practical support, if that’s what they would like,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with offering help. There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this.”
READ: UK pro-life activist awarded £13k after repeated arrests for silent prayer
Her trial is set to be held on March 6, 2025, with ADF UK supporting her defense.
Other Britons, like Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, Father Sean Gough, and Adam Smith-Cooper, have been repeatedly arrested just for praying silently near abortion facilities, in what many are deeming an example of the British government’s prosecution of thought crimes. Nearly 60,000 people signed on to a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, asking him not to criminalize silent prayer.
Now, with this new prosecution, it is clear that infringements upon the rights of Britons are continuing in the name of protecting abortion.
“Under far-reaching and vaguely-written rules, we have seen volunteers like Livia criminalised simply for offering conversations to those in need; and others dragged through courts for praying, even silently, in their minds,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK. “The principle of freedom of thought and speech must be defended both within and outside ‘buffer zones.’ It’s unthinkable that as real crime is mounting, policing time and resources are being expended on peaceful individuals like Livia who simply and peacefully offered conversations. No genuinely free and democratic society criminalises its citizens for exercising their right to freedom of speech, especially when such speech is nothing more than a harmless and consensual conversation.”
