The term “Orwellian,” meaning reminiscent of the author George Orwell’s dystopian novels, gets thrown around loosely in modern politics. But a disturbing incident that just took place in the United Kingdom really does deserve Orwell’s famous label of a “thought crime.”
A 51-year-old British man and army veteran named Adam Smith-Connor was just convicted of a crime for a 2022 incident where he silently prayed outside of an abortion clinic. Yes, seriously, that’s his “crime”: praying silently.
A judge ruled on Oct. 16 that, even though Smith-Connor was not on the abortion clinic’s property, his actions violated the “buffer zone” the government had created around the clinic, the Telegraph reports.
“He was given the opportunity to leave and chose not to comply with that,” the judge said.
For his part, Smith-Connor says that this verdict…
