SW News: Police in Bournemouth, England, have pressed criminal charges on Adam Smith-Connor, a Southampton army veteran, for praying quietly within a censorship zone, sometimes known as a "buffer zone," outside an abortion clinic.

Connor had gone to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service's Bournemouth clinic to pray for his unborn son, who had died in an abortion he had arranged more than two decades previously.

According to his legal counsel, the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) Council filed criminal charges against Smith-Connor on May 12, 2023. According to Smith-Connor's lawyers, the BCP Council did not inform their client of the summons until July 19, 2023, eight weeks after the statute of limitations for prosecuting him had expired and more than 10 weeks after the charge was made.

While the police and courts have stated that quiet prayer is not a crime in other settings, ADF UK's legal counsel, Jeremiah Igunnubole, claims that the BCP Council has instituted a rights-restricting censorship zone that now includes a prohibition on silent prayer.

Connor's legal team, Alliance Defending Freedom UK, has supposedly said that their client would appear in Bournemouth Magistrates' Court on August 9 to submit a not-guilty plea. It was also reported that Connor received a fine for praying outside an abortion clinic in a similar incident in 2022.

In addition, politicians in the United Kingdom Parliament have proposed creating such zones around abortion facilities across England and Wales.