An anti-abortion campaigner was found guilty of breaching a “Public Spaces Protection Order” imposed on and around a clinic in Bournemouth, England. In March 2023, Livia Tossici-Bolt stood in the “buffer zone” holding up a sign saying “Here to talk, if you want” near a Bournemouth abortion clinic.
Sentencing, District Judge Orla Austin told the court that the defendant
lacks insight that her presence could have a detrimental effect on the women attending the clinic, their associates, staff and members of the public.
The case had previously prompted the U.S. State Department to warn it was “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom” and was “monitoring” the case. Vice President JD Vance referenced the case in his now-famous Munich speech; subsequently, the motto “no free trade without free speech” has featured in official U.S. commentary around UK tariffs.
Ms Tossici-Bolt is supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian pressure group.
