By Bethania Wonagseged —
A U.K. woman who opposes abortion has been arrested a third time on charges of praying silently outside a Birmingham abortion facility in Jan. 27, 2025.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce wasn’t haranguing patrons or staff. She wasn’t carrying gruesome placards. She was simply standing there peacefully. Whether she was or was not praying in her mind is for her to say and the court to determine.
In any case, how is silent prayer illegal?
“It seems very Orwellian,” says Vaughan-Spruce, referring to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 in which the government arrests people for thought crimes.
On Oct. 7 of this year, police charged her with five separate crimes stemming from England and Wales’ 2024 abortion clinic buffer zones under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023. The buffer zones aim to guarantee that staff and patrons are free to enter and leave without being harassed by aggressive abortion foes within 492 feet from the facility.
But law, and the application of the law, is butting public peace and order up against freedom of religion.
“Standing within the buffer zone is not a crime,” says Jeremiah Igunnubole, with Alliance Defending Freedom in London. “So, the precise question is exactly what has Isabel been charged for?
“We can only say it’s been for her thoughts and the fact that she lifted up her heart and mind to God in prayer,” he adds. “That is a red line that cannot be crossed in the U.K. under the Human Rights Act. There’s an absolute right to freedom of thought and that means that there’s no qualifications allowed or permitted.”
Igunnubole is referring to freedom of thought and religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as protection against discrimination under Article 14.
Muslim nations deny Christians the right to think and espouse religious beliefs freely. Now, Europe is doing the same, though from the vantage of extreme Leftism.
This is the third time Vaughan-Spruce is being charged with a crime for praying silently outside her local abortion clinic.
She was arrested in December of 2022 and again in February and March 2023 for praying silently in the buffer zone. She was acquitted of those charges. West Midlands Police paid her a court-ordered penalty of £13,000 for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, an intrusive search and violations of her human rights.
The new arrest is based on a new fortified 2024 law.
The United Kingdom doesn’t have the Bill of Rights like the United States of America.
Apparently, it also doesn’t have common sense.
Of course, U.K. police doesn’t have mind-reading devices. But if clinic staff complain about a person who looks like she’s praying, the cops come and ask them: Are you praying?
In 2022, she replied that she “might be” praying.
Outside the courtroom in 2025, she said, “My behavior hasn’t changed. I’ve simply stood inside an abortion ‘buffer zone’, on a public street, and silently prayed—meaning my thoughts were turned towards God.
“I’ve not held any posters, offered any leaflets, spoken with anyone or spoken out loud at all. I’ve not interacted with anyone in any way,” she added. “Standing is not a crime, silence is not a crime, thinking is not a crime.”
Vaughan-Spruce’s criminal trial is scheduled for Jan. 25–29, 2027, at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court in England.
