Pro-life activist cited for silent prayer outside UK abortion facility… again

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the British pro-life activist repeatedly arrested simply for praying, has been charged for a third time for silently praying outside an abortion facility in the United Kingdom. The October 18 incident occurred even though two previous charges against Vaughan-Spruce for the same infraction were both dropped and a September statement by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman told police that “silent prayer, within itself, is not unlawful.”

Last year, Britain enacted legislation that prohibits all pro-life activity, including silent prayer, as part of the “Public Spaces Protection Order.” Vaughan Spruce had been arrested twice before for thoughtcrime — simply standing and silently praying outside abortion facilities.

Video footage from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK shows the latest interaction, as a female police officer questions Vaughan-Spruce while reading from a piece of paper. Vaughan-Spruce denies that she is protesting and states that though she is involved with a pro-life organization, she is not there in that capacity. Despite this, she was issued a “fixed penalty” for “failing to comply with the Public Space Protection Order and the Anti-Social Behavior Crime and Policing Act of 2014.”

Vaughan-Spruce decried the latest interaction.

“The UK government urgently needs to clarify that silent thoughts can never be illegal – even if those thoughts are in disagreement with the views of the State,” she said. “This is the third time I have been treated like a criminal for peacefully, silently, and imperceptibly praying for women who are likely facing one of the worst days of their lives.”

“The buffer zone regulation has already sought to prevent me and others from counseling women desperately in need of help. And now, authorities are trying to remove my ability even to pray for these women. To fine somebody simply for their thoughts is grossly Orwellian and an insult to the freedoms that Britain is meant to protect,” she continued.

Per ADF UK, Vaughan-Spruce was initially issued a fine, but that fine was later retracted.

Vaughan-Spruce is not the only individual who has faced legal implications for doing nothing more than standing silently outside an abortion facility. Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran, is expected in court on November 16 following a November 2022 arrest for silently praying for his deceased son within a buffer zone.