In the UK, new laws designed to keep protesters away from abortion clinics are leading to arrests for thought crimes; In these laws, people who pray silently are forcibly detained and then fined for what is going on in their minds.

Orwell’s case may serve as a warning to Americans who are too dismissive of government efforts to censor conservative thought; just like COVID-19 protocols, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and countless other examples where real news has been called “fake” for political gain.

In the UK, local regulations called Protecting Public Places Orders emerged a few years ago, and last year the more far-reaching Safe Access to Abortion Services Act received Royal Assent; This means the monarchy approves the law while lawmakers work out the details.

What all this means for citizens who oppose abortion in real life is that citizens who object to abortion should leave their opinions to themselves, even if those views are expressed in their own homes, if they are within 150 meters of a hospital or clinic performing the procedure. heads.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, for example, was searched and arrested by three police officers as she prayed near an abortion facility in November 2022, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International.

The free speech group also says the woman was not protesting, carrying a sign or interacting with anyone, but that was enough for officers to receive complaints that she “may have been praying silently in her mind.”

Although Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, was ultimately acquitted, he was arrested again, this time by six officers, for a similar offense on the grounds that he was within what critics called a “zone of censorship”. approval or denial of abortion, even “prayer or counseling” is illegal.

ADF UK said the case exemplified the dangers of what supporters call “buffer zones”, adding that the laws “will inevitably be used by police officers to erode the most basic freedoms”.

The Free Expression Union appears to make this point clear in a report which finds that equality, diversity and inclusion are a “golden topic” and have been widely integrated into UK police training, but not enough attention has been paid to freedom of expression. European Convention on Human Rights.

A British freedom of expression group reported last week that a woman named Emma (she preferred her surname not be disclosed) received a “dear resident” letter warning her that her home was in a buffer zone for abortion.

A Catholic who regularly holds pro-life activism meetings in her home, she now worries she will be arrested for doing so or for walking past a nearby abortion clinic wearing her “Pro-Life and Proud” T-shirt or holding a prayer. While the rosary beads are out.

The letter Emma received stated that espionage, which is a hallmark of communist countries such as North Korea, Cuba and China, was encouraged.

“You can report a group or individual you believe is violating the law,” the note reads. The buffer zone law provides for fines of up to $13,000.

The Free Press also reported that Adam Smith-Connor, a British army veteran and father, was convicted this month for silently praying near an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England, and ordered to pay $11,700, the amount he raised in one day from crowdfunding. website.

“Today the court ruled that certain thoughts – silent thoughts – may be illegal in the UK,” he said in response to the ruling. “This can’t be right. All I did was pray to God in the privacy of my own mind and yet I’m being tried as a criminal?”

It was reported that his lawyer applied for the court decision “a legal milestone of monumental proportions”.

Also in Bournemouth, Livia Tossici-Bolt, a member of the group 40 Days for Life, joined with another group, Christian Concern, to challenge the area’s buffer zone, but the high court ruled against them and in favor of the Public Spaces Protection Order. Also known as PSPO.

Even Catholic priests are not immune, given that Father Sean Gough of England’s Archdiocese of Birmingham was arrested for praying near an abortion clinic while holding a sign that read “I pray for freedom of speech” and for parking nearby while his car had a bumper sticker on it. I’m reading “Unborn lives matter.”

Also in Birmingham, Patrick Parkes prayed silently outside an abortion clinic when police instructed him to “gently move to another location outside the exclusion zone where you have human rights,” according to The Free Press. If he refused, they would threaten him with a fine.

Such rules could become even more restrictive with the Public Order Act 2023, which will come into force in England and Wales on Halloween Day this week, giving law enforcement more powers to prevent and respond to disruptive protests. “We are introducing the first ‘thought crime’ into UK law,” says ADF International.

While there have been no documented arrests of people praying silently near abortion clinics in the United States so far, many protesters have been prosecuted for allegedly blocking access to these clinics.

Paul Bond is an experienced journalist. You can follow him on X @AuthorPaulBond.