Pro-life activist first to be charged under UK's national abortion zone law

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a veteran pro-life activist exonerated in court after previously being arrested for silently praying near abortion facilities, has once again been criminally charged by authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) for silent prayer. She is the first person in Britain to be charged for purportedly breaching the UK’s new national “buffer zone” laws. 

Key Takeaways:

• Isabel Vaughan-Spruce faces charges for silently praying outside an abortion facility in the U.K.

• She is the first person to be charged for violating a new national "buffer zone" law in the U.K. Previously, she had been arrested based on local ordinances.

• The charges come even though she had previously been acquitted on similar charges and awarded £13,000 in a claim filed against British police.

• Buffer zone arrests in the UK have gained international attention, including from Vice President JD Vance, who has decried buffer zone legislation as an assault on free speech.

The Details:

Vaughan-Spruce faces charges for standing and silently praying within the buffer zone around a Birmingham abortion facility in four instances between June and November, with "intention of influencing a person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion," according to The Telegraph. 

Authorities say her actions violate a national “buffer zone” law passed by the UK government in 2023 and enacted in October 2024 under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023. As Christian Daily describes, “The national law prohibits ‘influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate abortion services’ within 150 meters of abortion facilities, but it does not mention silent prayer specifically.”  

Scientist found guilty of violating UK abortion ‘buffer zone’ by holding sign offering ‘to talk’

Notably, Vaughan-Spruce was not speaking, holding signs, or trying to talk to anyone at the time of her detention. Instead, she was praying privately and silently. 

Guidelines from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have indicated that silent prayer on its own is not necessarily criminal unless it is done with other “overt” activity. Nevertheless, Vaughan-Spruce was charged for her actions. She is poised to testify before a Birmingham magistrates’ court on January 29, 2026, where she could be slapped with an unlimited fine should prosecutors find her guilty.

Jeremiah Igunnubole, Vaughan-Spruce's legal counsel from ADF International, said: 

“’Buffer zones’ are among the most concerning frontiers of censorship in the modern west. We all stand against harassment and abuse, but the ‘buffer zone’ law broadly bans ‘influence’ which is being interpreted by police officers to target innocent people who happen to stand in a certain place and believe a certain thing. We will continue to robustly challenge this unjust censorship, and support Isabel’s right to think and believe freely as is the right of every person in the UK.” 

Zoom In:

Vaughan-Spruce’s case mirrors prior instances in which police officers questioned and kept her in custody for purportedly breaching buffer zone laws.

As co-director of the pro-life organization March for Life UK, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce has twice overturned previous arrests related to silent prayer. Her first detention occurred in December 2022 after she was found quietly praying within a government-imposed “buffer zone” surrounding an abortion facility in Birmingham’s Kings Norton district. 

In February 2023, a Birmingham magistrates’ court acquitted her of all charges after prosecutors failed to present adequate evidence. Yet only weeks later, she faced another arrest on allegations that her continued silent prayer in the same restricted zone breached local laws. 

“Despite being fully vindicated multiple times after being wrongfully arrested for my thoughts, it’s unbelievable that I have yet again been charged for standing in that public area and holding pro-life beliefs. Silent prayer — or holding pro-life beliefs — cannot possibly be a crime. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought," said Vaughan-Spruce.

The Bottom Line:

Vaughan-Spruce’s experience — and similar experiences by other pro-life activists — have garnered international notice, including from US Vice President JD Vance, who slammed the UK’s buffer zone legislation as an infringement on the religious freedoms of British citizens.