America Takes a Stand for the Rights of Western Christians

[Michie]

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The U.S. State Department issued a statement in support of Rose Docherty, the 74-year-old grandmother arrested outside Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

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“It is common sense that standing silently and offering consensual conversation does not constitute harm,” a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said.

Jonathan Van Maren
August 21, 2025

The U.S. State Department has once again sent the United Kingdom a clear warning: the ongoing persecution and prosecution of praying pro-lifers will not be tolerated. Their annual “United Kingdom 2024 Human Rights Report” opens with an ominous conclusion: “The human rights situation worsened in the United Kingdom during the year.”

The report noted “specific areas of concern, including … ‘Safe Access Zones’ (limiting speech rights around abortion clinics). These restrictions on freedom of speech could include prohibitions on efforts to influence others when inside a restricted area, even through prayer or silent protests.” The stark rise in antisemitism is also cited.

The U.S. State Department specifically noted the case of British veteran Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted and fined £9,000 for praying silently near a clinic in Bournemouth (Alliance Defending Freedom International is currently appealing his case). Vice President JD Vance also mentioned Smith-Connor’s case in his February speech at the Munich Security Council, where he articulated similar concerns about the collapse of free speech in the United Kingdom.

The report highlights the growing consternation of the Trump administration with the ongoing prosecution of pro-lifers in general. The Telegraph noted that the White House “intervened to support Livia Tossici-Bolt, a 64-year-old woman in Bournemouth who was convicted for protesting outside a clinic in April,” and that “the U.S. said it was monitoring the case and emphasized the importance of free speech and religious liberty.”

Continued below.

America Takes a Stand for the Rights of Western Christians

“It is common sense that standing silently and offering consensual conversation does not constitute harm,” a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said.

europeanconservative.com

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