If Livia Tossici-Bolt gets her way, it might no longer be illegal to strike up a friendly chat with a stranger, wave and smile to a teenage girl getting off a bus, or offer a silent prayer to a young woman in distress.
Since the UK government passed the Public Order Act in 2023, it was made illegal and an enforceable offense to have any form of “influence” on others within the buffer zones around all abortion facilities. In these zones, the mandate also bans silent prayers in one’s own mind.
Ms. Tossici-Bolt, a retired medical scientist who now volunteers, has been charged by Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council for breaching the buffer zone mandate after she held a sign reading “here to talk, if you want” near an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.
While Ms. Tossici-Bolt was holding her sign, several people approached her to talk about issues they were facing in their lives, her legal council stated in a press release. As a result, she was handed a fixed penalty notice, though she refused to pay, on the grounds of Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, protecting her right to offer consensual conversations.
In another instance, claimed to have been captured on video, her volunteer advocacy led to a second attempt by local authorities to press charges against Ms. Tossici-Bolt—this time outside the buffer zone. The footage purportedly shows officers confronting Ms. Tossici-Bolt and accusing her of violating the mandate, which criminalizes “expressions of approval or disapproval of abortion.”
She was carrying a council-issued map with her, apparently showing that she was not inside the buffer zone. The Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council recently admitted she was not at fault in this instance, her attorney stated, and apologized for causing her to feel “distressed and harassed” when the officers tried to move her from a public street.
“We all condemn harassment. But ‘buffer zones’ are going so far even to criminalize activities which are peaceful and helpful,“ Ms. Tossici-Bolt said in a statement. ”For several years now, I have been offering a helping hand to women who would like to consider other options to abortion, and pointing them to options where they can receive financial and practical support, if that’s what they would like.
“There’s nothing wrong with offering help. There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street,” she said. “I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council for comment, but they told us they were “unable to provide a comment until a judgement on the case has been delivered.”
Concurrently, government actions have been taken to protect freedom of speech. The Home Office issued guidance on the right of women to engage in consensual conversations of their own free will. Two MPs then approached the Home Office demanding these guidelines be altered, revoking support for said right.
The grave concern expressed by Ms. Tossici-Bolt, that censorship could expand on a broad scale, is underscored in a statement from her attorney, council Jeremiah Igunnubole, with Alliance Defending Freedom UK, who calls the buffer zone measures “vaguely-written.”
“Livia was interrogated for praying and offering charitable help even outside of a buffer zone on one occasion—exposing the reality of the slippery slope of censorship,“ Mr. Igunnubole said. ”If the state is allowed to criminalize the mere holding of pro-life viewpoints within certain public spaces, on what basis can we object to criminalization in all public spaces?”
