Alliance Defending Freedom announced last week it has filed an appeal on behalf of Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for silently praying outside an abortion mill in 2022.
(LifeSiteNews) -- A United Kingdom man who made international headlines after being convicted for silently praying outside an abortion clinic for his deceased son has filed an appeal with the courts.
Alliance Defending Freedom International announced last week that the firm has filed an appeal on behalf of Adam Smith-Connor, a British Army veteran, after he was arrested and convicted for silently praying near an abortion facility in November 2022.
"He had his back to the building to make it clear that he was not trying to disrupt anyone’s privacy," the legal group noted, explaining that Smith-Connor was "praying for his son, whom he lost to an abortion 22 years prior. He was also praying for the men and women facing difficult decisions about abortion that day.""Despite the fact that Adam was praying silently and not disrupting anyone, multiple officers approached him and began questioning his actions," the press release detailed of the 2022 event, noting that he was asked about the "nature" of his prayer.
Smith-Connor was ultimately charged and found guilty by the Poole Magistrates’ Court in October of 2024 for violating the "Public Spaces Protection Order" which created "buffer zones" near abortion mills to prohibit prayer and pro-life activism.
ADF International announced in its press release that their appeal will be heard on July 28, 2025 by the Bournemouth Crown Court.
Smith-Connor's case drew headlines internationally after the ordeal was condemned publicly by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
ADF International explained in its press release that Smith-Connor's conviction directly contradicts the "U.K. Human Rights Act," which "explicitly protects the freedom of thought, the freedom of religion, and the freedom of expression."
While freedom of thought, religion and expression often must be cited by those being prosecuted in Western countries, the Catholic Church has made clear through her popes that civil states, like individuals, have an obligation to "take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice." Under such a system, moral evils – like abortion – and the prosecution of those who fight against such evils would not be tolerated on the basis of Christian truth, which can never lawfully face suppression.
