Charges Dropped Against Woman Arrested for Praying Silently Outside Abortion Clinic

Pro-life campaigner Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in an undated file photo. Courtesy of ADF UK

A woman who was arrested after she told police she “might” be praying silently outside an abortion clinic has had her charges dropped, but her legal team says that they could be reinstated.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested on Dec. 6 and subsequently charged on Dec. 15 with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) by breaching an exclusion zone outside a Birmingham abortion clinic.

Vaughan-Spruce is the leader of the anti-abortion group 40 Days for Life Birmingham. Volunteers are present during these times in groups of two to four at a time. The group claims that volunteers hold no posters, banners, or placards and never use megaphones.

At the time, Vaughan-Spruce said that she was asked by police if she was praying. She said that she might be “silently in her head,” after which she was arrested.

Vaughan-Spruce was due in court on Wednesday at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

“It was due to happen today but charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service. Hopefully, we'll know more soon and can update you then. It’s a lot of work but hopefully, God will use it for good,” Vaughan-Spruce told The Epoch Times by email.

A spokesperson for Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told The Epoch Times by email: “We review all cases ahead of court where the police have charged. Following a review of this case, we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Could Be Reinstated

In a statement, Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK, which is supporting the defense of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has written to the Justice’s Chief Executive under section 23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act. The effect of the correspondence is that there will be no court hearing on 2 February.”

“Although the CPS has indicated it would drop the charges, it made it clear that they could be reinstated,” he added.

“This leaves Isabel in significant legal uncertainty and her priority is to obtain legal clarity on what, if any, liability she may incur in the future based on the charges laid against her,” said Igunnubole.

The Epoch Times understands that the case was discontinued before the first hearing, therefore the defendant was not asked to enter a plea. Whilst this means the case against the defendant has been stopped, if any new evidence is reported to the police, the case could be re-opened/a new case against the defendant could be started.

In a previous article, a police spokeswoman said that a PSPO “creates a zone around a specific facility to protect women from harassment by any means if they are seeking a medical procedure or advice at an abortion clinic.”

Normally used for substance abuse and criminality issues, PSPOs create buffer zones, which enable local authorities to prevent certain anti-social activities from taking place in an area.

Though abortion activists say that existing laws do not deal with pro-life clinic protests effectively enough, and argue that PSPOs are expensive to introduce and uphold in court, making councils less likely to risk their introduction.

Buffer zones

Last year, UK MPs supported proposals, which was introduced by the Labour MP Stella Creasey, to make pro-life protests and vigils around clinics a criminal offence in England and Wales.

On Wednesday, the amendment to the Public Order Bill was backed by the House of Lords.

The Conservative government’s Bill was designed to strengthen police powers against disruptive tactics by climate activists such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and Insulate Britain.

A “buffer zone” means an area that is within a boundary of 150 metres from any part of an abortion clinic or any access point to any building or site that contains an abortion clinic.

If passed, anyone within the buffer zone seeking to influence a woman’s decision to attend abortion services could face criminal charges and up to six months in jail for a first offence, or two years for further offences.

Amendment 45 was agreed on, in which a clause—if the Bill is passed in its current state—will criminalise anyone who acts “with the intent of, or reckless as to whether it has the effect of influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services.”

Under the revised amendment, private homes and places of worship within the buffer zone will not be covered by the provision.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK’s leading abortion care service, wrote on Twitter that “this law has one more step to go, being finally approved by the House of Commons.”

“MPs supported it back in October with a majority of 187, and we’re certain they will do again,” it added.

‘Danger’

While the amendment had overwhelming support, some members of the House of Lords expressed concerns about the freedom of expression aspects.

Lord Shinkwin said that a review would be beneficial before introducing any law that could seriously curtail free speech and that the Bill has “danger written all over it.”

“Suffice it to say, it frightens me, because it threatens freedom of conscience and creates a precedent with potentially huge ramifications, which should surely alarm and unite all of us who value democracy,” he said.

“We talk in this Chamber about the danger of passing legislation with unintended consequences. This clause proves our point perfectly. It has danger written all over it,” he added.

PA Media contributed to this report.