{"id":308884,"date":"2024-03-20T10:52:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T15:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=308884"},"modified":"2024-03-20T09:00:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:00:27","slug":"treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Treated like a criminal’: British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A British woman is awaiting trial for holding a sign which offered help to pregnant women outside an abortion facility in Bournemouth, Dorset.<\/p>\n

Livia Tossici-Bolt, 62, was arrested<\/a> for standing within a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which establishes a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d around the abortion business. Her sign simply read, \u201chere to talk, if you want to.\u201d Local authorities issued Tossici-Bolt a Fixed Penalty Notice which she refused to pay, and she was consequently charged by the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council and is awaiting trial.<\/p>\n

“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\u2019s what they would like,” explained Tossici-Bolt. “There\u2019s nothing wrong with offering help. There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal just for this.”<\/p>\n

Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF) is currently representing Tossici-Bolt. ADF has represented other individuals who have also been arrested for violating the United Kingdom’s restrictive buffer zone laws, which go so far as to ban silent prayer in the streets outside abortion facilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ: UK Army vet decries plan to prosecute him for \u2018thoughtcrime\u2019 of silent prayer<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder vaguely-written local ‘buffer zone’ measures, we have seen volunteers like Livia criminalised simply for offering help to women in need; and others dragged through courts for praying, even silently, in their minds,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK. “<\/span>The principle of freedom of thought and speech must be defended both within and outside \u2018buffer zones.'”<\/span><\/p>\n

In a separate incident, Tossici-Bolt was harassed by authorities for holding another sign \u2014 even though she was outside the established ‘buffer zone.’<\/p>\n

\u201cLivia was interrogated for praying and offering charitable help even outside of a buffer zone on one occasion \u2013 exposing the reality of the slippery slope of censorship,” Igunnubole said. “If the state is allowed to criminalise the mere holding of prolife viewpoints within certain public spaces, on what basis can we object to criminalisation in all public spaces?”<\/span><\/p>\n

The DOJ put a pro-life grandmother in jail for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30-seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP THE DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A British woman is awaiting trial for holding a sign which offered help to pregnant women outside an abortion facility in Bournemouth, Dorset. Livia Tossici-Bolt, 62, was arrested for standing within a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which establishes a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d around the abortion business. Her sign simply read, \u201chere to talk, if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":308953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2793,7,5,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal...."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal...."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Livia-Tossici-Bolt-ADF.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"‘Treated like a criminal’: British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Activism\",\"Human Rights\",\"International\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\",\"name\":\"'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal....\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘Treated like a criminal’: British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone","description":"\"There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal....\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone","og_description":"\"There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal....\"","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Livia-Tossici-Bolt-ADF.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"‘Treated like a criminal’: British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone","datePublished":"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/"},"wordCount":402,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Activism","Human Rights","International","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/","name":"'Treated like a criminal': British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-03-20T15:52:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-20T14:00:27+00:00","description":"\"There\u2019s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn\u2019t be treated like a criminal....\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/treated-criminal-british-woman-trial-holding-sign\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘Treated like a criminal’: British woman awaits trial for holding sign in abortion buffer zone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308884"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308884"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308982,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308884\/revisions\/308982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}