Pro-Life Scientist Convicted of Breaching Speech Zone Outside Abortion Clinic in UK
Trump’s State Department meets Livia Tossici-Bolt and blasts Britain for clamping down on free speech
A U.K. court earlier today convicted a pro-life clinical scientist of violating a “buffer zone” outside an abortion facility in a trial that has triggered threats of trade reprisals from the Trump administration over “freedom of expression” in Britain.
Dr. Livia Tossici-Bolt, a devout Catholic, was found guilty on two counts of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) or “buffer zone” outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) abortion facility in Bournemouth in March 2023.
The 64-year grandmother from Italy, who lives in Britain, was holding a sign that read: “Here to talk, if you want.” The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is defending Tossici-Bolt, said that several women approached her to converse about issues they were dealing with.
Tossici-Bolt was sentenced Friday to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 in full by May 31. According to the order, she will face prison time if she is convicted of any future offenses in the next two years.
Britain’s “Orwellian” Buffer Zones
The PSPO prohibits “harassment” and “intimidation” and bans “displaying any text or images relating directly or indirectly to the termination of pregnancy” and/or “but not limited to, imagery or textual references to abortion, baby, mum, fetus, soul, kill, hell, murder.”
The ordinance defines “protesting” as “being in the Safe zone” as well as “engaging in any act with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means,” including, but not limited to, “graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling.”
Authorities from the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council first fined Tossici-Bolt, but she refused to pay, stating that she had not breached the barrier and is allowed right under the Human Rights Act (Article 10) to have consensual conversations.
“The sign made no reference to pregnancy, abortion, or religious matters,” ADF argued in court. They also presented evidence from one council officer that “he did not witness her intimidating or harassing any individual.
“The council has not adduced any evidence that she was observed by any service user or any other form of harm … neither is there an identified victim in this case.”
Trump’s State Department Defends Free Speech
A delegation from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, an office within the U.S. Department of State, met Tossici-Bolt in March during a visit to the U.K., along with a U.S.-backed pro-life group which has been supporting her case.
In a rare intervention on March 30, the State Department said in a pair of tweets:
U.S.-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. …
While recently in the UK, DRL Senior Advisor Sam Samson met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, who faces criminal charges for offering conversation within a legally prohibited “buffer zone” at an abortion clinic. We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.
The meeting raised fears that Tossici-Bolt’s case was responsible for Britain’s failure to strike a trade deal with the U.S. and avoid President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, with one source telling the Daily Telegraph there should be “no free trade without free speech.”
Britain Kills Freedom of Expression
In response to the verdict Friday, Tossici-Bolt said, “This is a dark day for Great Britain. I was not protesting and did not harass or obstruct anyone. All I did was offer consensual conversation in a public place, as is my basic right, and yet the court found me guilty.
“Freedom of expression is in a state of crisis in the U.K. What has happened to this country? The U.S. State Department was right to be concerned by this case as it has serious implications for the entire Western world.”
Previously, Tossici-Bolt had expressed her gratitude to the State Department for stepping in.
“It is tragic to see that the increase of censorship in this country has made the U.S. feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties,” she said. “I’m grateful to the U.S. administration for prioritizing the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end. It deeply saddens me that the U.K. is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech.
“My case, involving only a mere invitation to speak, is but one example of the extreme and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today. There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal for this.”
Judge Sentences Father for Praying for Aborted Baby
Pro-lifers were expecting Tossici-Bolt to be found guilty after they became aware that the judge in her case had already found pro-life advocate Adam Smith-Connor guilty last October for silently praying outside the same abortion clinic in November 2022. Smith-Conor — a military veteran and Christian — was praying for his unborn son, who was killed in an abortion he himself had helped arrange more than two decades ago.
Judge Orla Austin found him guilty of breaching the buffer zone and sentenced him to a conditional discharge after ordering him to pay prosecution costs of £9,000 (about $11,700).
In her decision, Austin reasoned that Smith-Connor’s prayer amounted to “disapproval of abortion” because at one point his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands were clasped.
ADF argued that Smith-Connor did not outwardly manifest his prayer by kneeling, speaking, or holding any signs. He also made every effort to stay out of the line of sight of the abortion facility — positioned behind a tree with his back to it — and did not engage with any other people while he was there.
In Tossici-Bolt’s case, Austin said, “I conclude that she lacks insight into the fact that her presence could have a detrimental impact upon women attending the clinic, their associates, the staff, and members of the public.”
U.K.’s Slippery Slope Toward Tyranny
“Today, authorities are targeting conversations and even silent prayers they say are related to abortion,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, ADF International’s legal counsel. “Tomorrow, it could be any other topic that goes against the mainstream perspective, as defined and policed by those in power. The slippery slope towards tyranny is clear.”
The U.K.’s Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, criticized the Trump administration’s intervention, admitting that the “buffer zones” law is “too onerous,” but had been passed democratically and that “we need to respect what Parliament votes for.”
“The U.S. State Department should recognize that the U.K. is a free country with liberal values,” she added. In 2022, Badenoch, who is originally from Nigeria, voted against legislation to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals.
Britain criminalized silent prayer in “buffer zones” in March 2023. Some members of Parliament had sought an amendment seeking to protect pro-lifers who have been arrested by police for silently praying outside abortuaries, but it failed by a vote of 116 to 299. It was then introduced in the House of Lords by Andrew Lewer, who warned that Britain was adding “thought crime” to a list of things the police will have to “assess and prosecute.”
A similar law is also now in force in Northern Ireland, where pro-lifer Claire Brennan was convicted in December for kneeling in prayer inside a buffer zone.
In Scotland, it may even be a crime to pray at home if the residence is inside such an exclusion zone, as Vice President J.D. Vance mentioned in his speech at the Munich Security Conference in February.
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.