Livia Tossici-Bolt was found guilty and ordered to pay $25,000 for breaching a local 'buffer zone' while holding a sign that read 'here to talk, if you want to.' After the verdict, she said, 'This is a dark day for Great Britain.'
BOURNEMOUTH, England (LifeSiteNews) — A British pro-life activist was convicted Friday for a peaceful protest outside an abortion center.
Pro-life advocate Livia Tossici-Bolt, a retired medical scientist, was found guilty at Poole Magistrates’ Court on April 4 for having breached a local “buffer zone” or the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which bans expression of approval or disapproval of abortion within 150 meters of abortuaries. In 2023, Tossici-Bolt peacefully held up a sign that read “here to talk, if you want to” near the BPAS abortuary in Bournemouth.
Tossici-Bolt was sentenced to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 ($25,777.34 USD), which must be paid in full by May 31.
“This is a dark day for Great Britain. I was not protesting and did not harass or obstruct anyone. All I did was offer consensual conversation in a public place, as is my basic right, and yet the court found me guilty,” Tossici-Bolt said after her conviction, per Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is providing her legal counsel.
“Freedom of expression is in a state of crisis in the U.K. What has happened to this country? The U.S. State Department was right to be concerned by this case as it has serious implications for the entire Western world,” she added.
READ: Trump State Department defends UK pro-lifer charged for holding sign outside abortion center
Earlier this week, Trump’s State Department defended Tossici-Bell and expressed concern over the UK's lack of freedom of speech in a series of X posts. The department also noted they were “monitoring the case.”
“We are disappointed with the U.K. court’s conviction of Livia Tossici-Bolt for violating a designated ‘buffer zone’ at an abortion clinic. Freedom of expression must be protected for all,” the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor wrote on X after the verdict.
Tossici-Bolt held her sign for two days in March 2023, and several individuals approached Livia to discuss a variety of issues they were facing in their lives.
Local authorities eventually confronted Tossici-Bolt, alleging that she had breached the PSPO. They issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, which Livia refused to pay, on the grounds that she did not breach the terms of the PSPO and has the right, protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, which protects freedom of expression, to offer consensual conversations.
The Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) Council charged Tossici-Bolt for violating the PSPO, and her trial was held in March.
READ: UK woman charged for offering help to women in crisis pregnancies outside abortion center
After the verdict, Tossici-Bolt also stressed that she would consider all her legal options and remained committed to continuing to fight for free speech.
“I remain committed to fighting for free speech, not only for my own sake but for all my fellow citizens. If we allow this precedent of censorship to stand, nobody’s right to freely express themselves is secure. With ADF International’s support, I will now consider all legal options,” she said.
