Legal win for pro-life activist arrested for silent prayer

Pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce has gained a legal win in her ongoing battle over the freedom to pray silently outside of an abortion business.

Vaughan-Spruce, Director of the UK March for Life, was first arrested in December 2022 for standing outside of an abortion business and admitting that she might be silently praying. She is just one victim of increasingly strict laws to protect abortion facilities in the UK. The police said she was in violation of a Public Health Protection Order (PHPO) which bans “protesting, namely engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means” near abortion facilities. “This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counseling,” the order reads.

The charges against Vaughan-Spruce were dropped, but shortly after, she was arrested again in March for the same reason, even though her actions were previously deemed innocent. Around that time, Parliament introduced even stricter legislation banning pro-life activity around abortion businesses, including silent prayer.

In addition to being banned from the area around the abortion facility where she was arrested, her bail conditions banned her from other public spaces as well. The UK division of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF UK) is representing Vaughan-Spruce, and argued that these conditions were “unnecessary” and “disproportionate.” They won and the conditions were lifted. These bail conditions were able to be enforced so easily because police are allowed to restrict access for nine months on their own authority, without an order from the court.

For now, Vaughan-Spruce is permitted to be near her local abortion business once again. While this is a win, the fight is not over for Vaughan-Spruce and other pro-life advocates in the UK who have faced similar persecution. The case was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and it is still considering whether to prosecute Vaughan-Spruce.

A timeline of the case can be found here.

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