{"id":33462,"date":"2025-02-15T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=33462"},"modified":"2025-02-15T21:21:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T21:21:01","slug":"jd-vance-slams-europe-for-violating-free-speech-of-pro-life-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/jd-vance-slams-europe-for-violating-free-speech-of-pro-life-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance Slams Europe for Violating Free Speech of Pro-Life Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong><em>By:  Steven Ertelt, originally published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/2025\/02\/14\/jd-vance-slams-europe-for-violating-free-speech-of-pro-life-christians\/?cmid=79519f34-12c7-4f38-93d3-82f16d28be78\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">February 14, 2025, LifeNews.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Vice President JD Vance used a speech addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday to slam Europe for violating the free speech and religious rights of pro-life Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cWhen I look at Europe today, it\u2019s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War\u2019s winners,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Vance brought up the case of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor, who was arrested for praying outside an abortion center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cAfter British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/jdvancefreespeech.mp4?_=1\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As LifeNews extensively reported, British Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was found guilty of praying silently. This is the first conviction for a thought crime in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Smith-Connor stood still and silent on the public street for a few minutes before being approached by \u201ccommunity safety accredited officers\u201d. He had his back to the clinic in order to be mindful of the privacy of staff and attendees of the abortion facility. Video footage shows the council officers asking what he was doing. Smith-Connor informed them that he was \u201cpraying for my son, who is deceased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A&nbsp;censorship zone or \u201cbuffer zone\u201d has been enforced since 13 October 2022. The zone was implemented by local authorities through a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which criminalises engaging in \u201can act\u201d or even \u201cattempted act\u201d of \u201capproval\/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling\u201d within the area surrounding an abortion facility. The PSPO further prohibits religious acts, including reading scripture or crossing oneself.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk\/Communities\/PSPOs\/documents\/Signed-PSPO-Ophir-Road-and-Surrounding-Area.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See the full PSPO terms here.<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Smith-Connor has now been issued a fine on the basis of the PSPO. The Council stated in their email that the fine is based on his statement that he had been \u201cpraying for his son, who is deceased\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">ADF UK is supporting Smith-Connor and has engaged a legal team to challenge his fine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cNobody should be criminalised for what they believe \u2013 especially not when they express that belief silently, in the privacy of their own minds. Just like in the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce last month, Adam could now face prosecution for holding thoughts, and lifting those thoughts to God in prayer, within a censorship zone.&nbsp;The rapid proliferation of orders criminalising volunteers such as Adam and Isabel should be a wake up call to all those who value freedom of expression \u2013 even freedom of thought \u2013 no matter their views on abortion,\u201d&nbsp;said Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK, the legal organisation supporting Adam Smith-Connor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Penalties for Prayer<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Upon learning that Smith-Connor was praying for his late son, the council officer responded, \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss. But ultimately, I have to go along with the guidelines of the Public Space Protection Order, to say that we are in the belief that therefore you are in breach of clause 4a, which says about prayer, and also acts of disapproval\u2026\u201d. When Smith-Connor interjected, \u201cI\u2019m just standing praying,\u201d, she again responded, \u201cI do understand that. But the PSPO is in place for a reason and we have to follow through on those regulations.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Reflecting on the penalty, Smith-Connor said:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201c22 years ago I drove my ex-girlfriend to a facility and paid for her to have an abortion. It was a pivotal moment in my life. The consequences of my actions that day came back to grieve me years later, when I realized I had lost my son Jacob to an abortion I had paid for. Recently, I stood outside a similar facility and prayed to God for my son Jacob, for other babies who have lost their lives to abortion, for their grieving families, and for abortion clinic staff.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\u201cI would never have imagined being in a position to risk a criminal record for praying silently. In the past, I assisted with abortions in hospital as part of my army medical training, but now I pray for those who perform abortions because I realise how harmful abortion is to women and families, and that every single human life is valuable \u2013 no matter how small. Most of all, I\u2019m moved to pray because of what happened to my son, Jacob,\u201d he continued.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Isabel Vaughan-Spruce faces trial for prayer<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/2022\/12\/20\/woman-arrested-charged-with-thought-crime-for-silently-praying-outside-abortion-facility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A video of the arrest of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce after she said she \u201cmight\u201d be praying silently<\/a>&nbsp;in a PSPO went viral last month. The charity volunteer will go before the Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court on 2 February after being charged for breaching the local PSPO by silently praying in her mind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">After saying they believed that Vaughan-Spruce was silently praying, police officers searched, arrested, and charged Vaughan-Spruce with \u201cprotesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users\u201d. Since the creation of the PSPO censorship zone, Vaughan-Spruce had only prayed nearby the abortion facility while it was closed. It is therefore hard to see how any \u201cservice users\u201d could have been present while she prayed silently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong><em>Steven Ertelt is the founder and Editor of LifeNews.com, and has provided the pro-life community with news via the Internet since 1993.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Steven Ertelt, originally published February 14, 2025, LifeNews.com Vice President JD Vance used a speech addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday to slam Europe for violating the free speech and religious rights of pro-life Christians. \u201cWhen I look at Europe today, it\u2019s sometimes not so clear what happened&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - 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