UK free speech concerns mount as another pro-lifer is briefly arrested

Though pro-life campaigner Paul Gardner never imagined standing quietly in the streets of Cambridge on November 1 with informational banners would result in his arrest, that was precisely what happened.

Officers arrested him under Section 4A of the UK Public Order Act during what witnesses testified was a peaceful pro-life demonstration. 

Key Takeaways:

• Paul Gardner was arrested and briefly detained based on the UK Public Order Act for standing next to banners that showed the consequences of late-term abortion.

• Gardner was attempting to show the consequences of a vote in the House of Commons this summer, decriminalizing self-administered abortion regardless of gestational age.

• Many are disturbed at the growing attacks on free speech in the UK.

The Details:

As reported by the Sunday Telegraph, Gard­ner "had been standing in front of two large banners that showed third-trimester babies in and outside the womb and an aborted baby" when a passerby took offense.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire police stated, “A man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of public order offences during an anti-abortion protest last month. He was released with no further action.” Gardner was detained for six hours before being released without charge.

“I was very surprised when I heard I was under arrest,” Gardner recounted. “We were out on the street to inform the public about what most MPs have voted for… It feels absurd that I was arrested in Cambridge for showing what the MP for Cambridge approves.”

Gardner added:

“A woman came along and demanded to see some proof that we had a licence or something to demonstrate that we were allowed to be doing what we were doing. We have documentation that covers the rights that we have, as well as information from a court case from about a decade ago that demonstrated in court that the things that we’re doing are legal.”

As the Sunday Telegraph noted:

The incident comes after the US warned in August that the UK’s decision to enforce buffer zones around abortion clinics put the two countries’ 'shared values' at risk.

Earlier this year, the White House intervened to support Livia Tossici-Bolt, a 64-year-old woman in Bournemouth who was convicted for protesting outside a clinic...

Under a national “buffer zones” law passed in October 2024, people now face unlimited fines if they engage in silent prayer or protest within 150 metres of a clinic or hospital providing abortion services.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce’s case is yet another example of how a pro-life activist has been repeatedly probed by UK authorities for silently praying outside abortion facilities. While she has been acquitted twice and had charges dropped, she remains under investigation for a third time.

The Context:

In July, the UK House of Commons voted to decriminalize "self-administered abortions for any reason and at any point in pregnancy, and would not exclude abortions for sex selection," as previously noted by Live Action News. This is what Gardner was referring to when discussing the irony of being arrested for showing the real, human cost of that vote.

Self-abortions are typically done through use of the abortion pill. The UK's "pills by post" scheme, instituted during the pandemic, allows women (or predatory men) to obtain abortion drugs via a "no-test" protocol. This means that no blood tests are performed and no ultrasounds to determine gestational age or rule out ectopic pregnancy are done before a woman receives the drugs.

A woman could use those drugs to abort a baby old enough to survive outside the womb, yet suffer no consequences. This is not only lethal to the babies, but dangerous to the women themselves.

MPs in the UK passed this bill as a response to the arrests of some women who took the abortion pill extremely late in pregnancy, ending the lives of their viable babies.

1st Trimester Abortion | The Abortion Pill | What Is Abortion?

The Bottom Line:

These repeated investigations suggest that the UK’s public order and buffer zone statutes are being enforced in intrusive ways.

Gardner’s remarks have struck a chord among pro-life advocates, who view his experience as yet another instance of peaceful dissent being met with draconian state reactions and that merely being pro-life in public has become risky in itself. His detention mirrors how uncertainty in enforcement can discourage others from speaking out in favor of the pro-life cause for fear of being detained.

What is at stake is more than one man’s “right” to hold a banner; it is the ability of every UK citizen to speak truthfully about moral issues without fear.