US State Department representatives reportedly engaged with British anti-abortion advocates due to worries about potential infringements on their freedom of speech.
According to The Telegraph, American officials recently traveled to the UK to meet with anti-abortion campaigners, prompted by concerns in Washington that these individuals are facing repercussions for expressing their opinions. The Telegraph characterized this action as evidence of Washington’s intention to “intervene in domestic British affairs.”
In March, the State Department sent a delegation from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) to meet with officials from the Foreign Office and Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, to “affirm the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe.”
These discussions, which coincided with separate UK-US trade negotiations, primarily addressed the UK’s new online safety act and its possible effects on freedom of speech.
The article also noted that the five-member US team held discreet meetings with British activists who had been arrested for protesting outside abortion clinics. These US officials also reportedly attended an event held at an “nondescript” office block where these campaigners were present.
The Telegraph stated that “The visit is the latest sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs.”
While The Telegraph did not specify the individuals the US officials met with, Washington has expressed concern over several cases where free speech rights in the UK may have been compromised.
One such case involves Livia Tossici-Bolt, a 64-year-old activist charged in 2023 for holding a sign stating “here to talk if you want” outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth. After refusing to leave when requested by police, she faced prosecution under a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which establishes a 150-meter buffer zone around abortion facilities.
In February, US Vice President J.D. Vance also highlighted the case of Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old British army veteran and anti-abortion activist, who was convicted in October 2024 for silently praying near the same Bournemouth clinic. Vance described it as a “most concerning case” and suggested it exemplified threats to the “basic liberties of religious Britons.”
UK law enforcement has faced criticism for alleged “two-tier policing,” a term implying that harsher measures are often applied to right-wing protesters compared to left-wing protesters. Elon Musk, a known ally of Trump, has been particularly outspoken on this issue, criticizing the UK’s response as disproportionate to anti-immigration demonstrations.
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