I'm the abortion campaigner name-checked by JD Vance. I'm glad he exposed UK censorship
Adam Smith-Connor had no prior warning before JD Vance name-checked the Southampton-born physiotherapist in an address to the world's political elite.
The 51-year-old army veteran was convicted in October for praying silently outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic in November 2022.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £9,000 for breaching a ban on protests within a legal buffer zone around the clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset.
When the US vice-president invoked his case at the Munich security conference in a speech hitting out at European nations for clamping down on free speech, singling out Britain as the 'most concerning' case, Mr Smith-Connor was 'deeply moved'.
He said he was 'delighted' that Mr Vance was 'exposing the reality' of censorship in Britain.
'I am tremendously grateful that the vice-president is showcasing the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in the UK and… holding the UK accountable for prosecuting innocent people,' Mr Smith-Connor said.
'The UK is a democracy founded on deep respect for fundamental freedoms.
'It is right and good that the US should be exposing the reality of what is going on,' he added, claiming that Britain was 'undergoing a crisis of censorship'.
While the US is 'recommitting to free speech', he fears that the UK under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer is slipping further and further away.
The court was told during Mr Smith-Connor's prosecution that he bowed his head and clasped his hands outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service in Bournemouth, in a silent vigil that lasted just three minutes.
He had been praying for his unborn son, who had been aborted 22 years ago, which the 51-year-old now regrets.
'My son Jacob's life was brief, but it mattered and I'm deeply moved that the value of his life is being acknowledged by others,' Mr Smith-Connor said.
'As a fellow Catholic I assume like me [Mr Vance] acknowledges that every abortion is a tragedy not just for the baby whose life is lost but also for their family.'
In his Munich speech, Mr Vance picked up on a policy change instituted by the UK Government, which banned protests, including silent prayer, within 150-metre buffer zones around abortion clinics from the end of October last year.
A similar ban was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2023 and another came into force in Scotland on Sept 24.
Mr Smith-Connor was prosecuted under a public spaces protection order, which was introduced in 2022 by the local council to cover the Bournemouth clinic as it had been previously targeted by protesters.
The order created an area around the clinic so women visitors and staff members could come and go without being harassed and subjected to verbal abuse by pro-life campaigners.
Labour's legislation goes further in creating legally enforced buffer zones around abortion clinics. It is already sparking fresh confrontations in the battle between 'free speech' and protecting women's rights to abortion.
This week, West Midlands Police moved on another woman engaging in silent prayer outside a local clinic. Mr Vance noted in his speech that Mr Smith-Connor's case was not a 'fluke' or a 'one-off'.
Mr Smith-Connor said the vice-president's intervention 'showcases what is at stake if Britain does not change the law imposing nation-wide 'buffer zones around abortion facilities'.
'These laws do nothing to protect women,' he claimed. 'They are targeted to go after peaceful expression. Now it is up to Britain to heed his words and set about changing the law.'
Both men are veterans of overseas wars: Mr Smith-Connor was deployed to Afghanistan, while Mr Vance served in the United States Marine Corps in Iraq.
Mr Smith-Connor said the experience had made him 'deeply grateful for the freedoms we are promised as citizens of Britain' and warned that 'those freedoms are slipping away'.
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