US vice president JD Vance has claimed Scots who pray in their homes could be prosecuted after the recent introduction of buffer zones around Scottish abortion clinics.
Vance used a speech in Munich to argue Europe was seeing a shift away from democratic values and claimed the “basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular” are under threat, citing the Scottish Government law as an example.
The buffer zone legislation passed the Scottish Parliament in a historic moment last year, and sees anti-abortion protests within 200m of abortion service providers banned.
The law does not prohibit anyone from praying within their own homes, as Vance claimed. This false claim has been repeatedly posted by some social media accounts across Twitter/X in recent months.
Vance said: "This last October, the Scottish Government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called 'safe access zones', warning them that even private prayer, within their own home may amount to breaking the law.
"Naturally, the Government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime. In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat."
Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay, who spearheaded the bill bringing in protest buffer zones, hit out at the US vice president for spreading "shocking and shameless misinformation".
"He is one of the most powerful people in the world but he is peddling total nonsense and dangerous scare mongering."
Mackay added: “The government that Mr Vance represents is a clear threat to reproductive rights. He has a shocking record on abortion and many other issues. He has supported calls to reduce access to healthcare and has even argued for a national ban on abortion rights across the US.
“Abortion rights are human rights and they are healthcare. Today and every day I will stand with the millions of people across the US who oppose the misogynistic and anti-choice agenda of Donald Trump and JD Vance.”
It comes after Donald Trump’s second-in-command criticised the UK over a legal case in which a man who claimed to have “silently prayed” outside a British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) clinic was convicted of breaching an anti-abortion protest safe zone.
Vance referred to the conviction of Adam Smith-Connor, 51, who was found guilty last year of failing to comply with a public space protection order at the centre in Bournemouth in November 2022.
Smith-Connor had told the council of his intention to breach the anti-protest zone at the Bpas clinic ahead of time, and refused to leave despite being spoken to by officers for one hour and 40 minutes, the BBC reported.
These facts were misrepresented by US vice president Vance, who told delegates from European countries at the Munich Security Conference on Friday his own version of the story.
He said: “A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.
“After 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.
“Now, the officers were not moved – Adam was found guilty of [breaking] the Government’s new buffer zones law, which criminalises silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within 200 metres of abortion facility. He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution.”
In England, where the incident involving Smith-Connor took place, buffer zones apply within 150 metres of an abortion clinic, rather than 200 metres.
The case preceded the enforcement of the Public Order Act 2023, which introduced new rules on safe access zones outside all abortion clinics following a free vote in Parliament that received cross-party support.
A public space protection order had been introduced in October 2022 which banned activity including protests, harassment and vigils.
“Safe access zones around abortion clinics are necessary to protect women’s access to essential healthcare,” she said
Stewart added: “An overwhelming majority of Parliament, including MPs from all national parties, supported the introduction of safe access zones – providing a strong democratic mandate for this essential change. And the vast majority of the British public support them too.
“Bpas is proud to have led the campaign to introduce these zones, proud to have spent nearly 60 years fighting for women’s health and rights, proud to provide abortion services in an overwhelmingly pro-choice country, and will always remain proud to stand against misogynistic and anti-democratic interference with British women’s reproductive rights by nefarious foreign extremists, whether they are the vice president of the US or not.”
Smith-Connor was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay more than £9000 in court costs and victim surcharge after the legal proceedings brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.
