Letter of the day – The Conservative Woman

ivia Tossici-Bolt has been found guilty of two breaches of a ‘buffer zone’ outside a Bournemouth abortion centre after standing within the zone silently holding a sign reading ‘Here to talk, if you want’.

The 64-year-old retired medical scientist was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,000 towards court costs. 

This case is surely meant to have a ‘chilling’ effect on anyone who might feel tempted to offer help to possibly conflicted pregnant women. With an estimated 10,372,100 unborn lives lost since legalisation in 1967, and an estimated 300,000 abortions in the UK in 2024, if there’s one thing this country needs, it’s even more dead babies. Ten years ago, one in five viable pregnancies were aborted; by 2020, the figure had risen to one in four; by 2023, it was three in ten.

In a statement outside court, Tossici-Bolt said her conviction was a ‘‘dark day for freedom’ in the UK.

Clare McCullough of the Good Counsel organisation, which is providing legal help for Ms Tossici-Bolt, said members had been accused of things like calling women ‘murderer’ and chasing them down the road, which she said they never do.

She said: ‘I also think that she’s not broken the buffer zone, because the buffer zone is all about doing things to persuade or dissuade women about abortion, and her sign doesn’t say anything about that. Anyone going into that abortion centre would have seen a sign saying, “Here to talk if you want” – it didn’t say pro-life, it didn’t say keep your baby, it didn’t say abortion ends a baby’s life – it said nothing like that.’ Consequently, she didn’t ‘see how the judge has come to this conclusion, except by deciding that because of who Livia is, they’re going to convict her’.

District Judge Orla Austin told the court that Ms Tossici-Bolt ‘lacks insight that her presence could have a detrimental effect on the women attending the clinic, their associates, staff and members of the public’. Of course, it might be argued that her presence might have a positive effect. The judge added: ‘I accept her beliefs were truly held beliefs. Although it’s accepted this defendant held pro-life views, it’s important to note this case is not about the rights and wrongs about abortion but about whether the defendant was in breach of the PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order).’ 

With absolutely no evidence that pro-life individuals harass anyone outside abortion centres – actions which are already illegal – it seems the governing classes in this country are now determined to censor any possible indication that abortion might be anything other than a life-affirming healthcare treatment for women, by criminalising the holding of signs offering help to vulnerable pregnant mothers and even silencing silent prayer. They speak loftily about protecting women and preventing them from being harassed; but if they are indeed serious about this, they should prosecute themselves for harassing the only people who would simply offer positive help.

Ann Farmer

Woodford Green

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