The US state department has issued a press release saying it’s “concerned about freedom of expression within the United Kingdom” and that it’s “monitoring” the case of a pro-life woman prosecuted for holding an indication offering help inside an abortion clinic “buffer zone”.
Livia Tossici-Bolt faced criminal trial this month for holding an indication that read “Here to speak, should you want” near an abortion facility. A verdict on her case is due on Friday.
The statement was issued by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor at a time when the UK has been hoping for a free trade agreement with the US.
“U.S.-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice President Vance has said, we’re concerned about freedom of expression within the United Kingdom,” the statement said.
“While recently within the UK, DRL Senior Advisor Sam Samson met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, who faces criminal charges for offering conversation inside a legally prohibited ‘buffer zone’ at an abortion clinic.
“We are monitoring her case. It is essential that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
Responding to the state department’s unusual intervention, Tossici-Bolt said she was “grateful” for the support from the US administration amid a rise in “censorship” within the UK.
“Great Britain is purported to be a free country, yet I’ve been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation. Peaceful expression is a fundamental right—nobody must be criminalised for harmless offers to converse,” she said.
“It is tragic to see that the rise of censorship on this country has made the US feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties.
“I’m grateful to the US administration for prioritising the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end.
“It deeply saddens me that the UK is seen as a world embarrassment in terms of free speech. My case, involving only a mere invitation to talk, is but one example of the intense and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today.
“It is essential that the federal government actually does respect freedom of expression, because it claims to.”
Vice-President Vance voiced concerns about freedom of expression across Europe but especially the UK during a recent speech to European leaders in Munich. He raised the case of one other prosecuted pro-lifer, Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for praying silently in an abortion clinic buffer zone. An appeal against his conviction can be heard in July.
A verdict within the case of Tossici-Bolt can be handed down on Friday by District Judge Orla Austin, the identical judge who found Smith-Connor guilty.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF International, which is supporting Tossici-Bolt and Smith-Connor, said that criminal prosecutions for silent prayer and consensual conversations were “not only illiberal, but in addition irresponsible” and putting relations with the US, a key ally, at unnecessary risk.
“The UK’s censorship crisis is the results of a longstanding failure by British politicians to vigilantly protect fundamental rights within the UK, while hypocritically claiming to champion them abroad,” he said.
“We cannot consistently claim the UK is a bastion of free speech when law-abiding residents like Livia are prosecuted for nothing apart from peacefully offering to talk to people. What freedom do we have now if residents cannot offer a consensual conversation in a public space?
“Today, authorities are targeting conversations and even silent prayers they are saying are related to abortion. Tomorrow, it might be some other topic that goes against the mainstream perspective, as defined and policed by those in power. The slippery slope towards tyranny is obvious. This just isn’t how free and democratic countries should function.”
He continued, “It is true for the US State Department and JD Vance to warn the UK that censorship is antithetical to freedom, democracy, and societal flourishing.”
Mr Igunnubole added: “The government must act to be sure that what’s undoubtedly our most vital diplomatic relationship just isn’t put in danger as a result of an ideological commitment to censorship.”
In February, the state department criticised the arrest of Scottish Christian grandmother, Rose Docherty, for holding a register a Glasgow abortion clinic buffer zone that said “Coercion is a criminal offense, here to speak, only should you want”.
At the time, the state department said, “Freedom of expression must be protected. We call on governments, whether in Scotland or around the globe, to respect freedom of expression for all.”
Abortion clinic buffer zones in Edinburgh were criticised by Vance in his Munich speech over the chance that non-public prayer in individual homes may fall foul of the restrictions.
Green Party MSP Gillian Mackay, who authored the Scottish buffer zone law, later admitted in an interview that prayer in a personal home inside a buffer zone might be a criminal offense depending “on who’s passing by the window”.
