In the UK, thought crimes are now a thing. Police are prosecuting an Army veteran who stands and silently prays ‘near’ an abortion clinic.
Mr Smith-Connor, who served in the military for 20 years, was confronted by council police in last year as he silently prayed with his back turned away from the clinic.
Body camera footage appears to show police questioning the ‘nature’ of his prayers. He explained that he was praying for the son he lost 22 years ago, the part he played in his abortion and for those who are making decisions about abortion today.
He was given notice of a penalty fine of £100 which allegedly charged him for ‘praying for his deceased son‘.
Regardless of your views on abortion is it right that anyone can be asked about ‘the nature of your prayer’? Is this by definition the prosecution of a thoughtcrime?
By making this prosecution against a person in a place where it might be argued that he is causing some stress to the women entering the facility (although that is not at issue here) is it building the slippery slope towards prosecuting politically incorrect thinking?
Just imagine it. “You were doubting our Net Zero targets” – Prosecute. “You were thinking of eating those saturated fats” – Prosecute.
Prayer is just the beginning. We need to be on the alert for this nonsense here.
Adam Smith-Connor, a convert to Catholicism and an army veteran, is set to face trial today for silently praying for his aborted son outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England. He regrets encouraging his girlfriend to undergo an abortion during his atheist days. @ADFLegal… pic.twitter.com/n97ZAknVFG
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) November 16, 2023