UK authorities have dropped charges against a woman who was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in December, but warned she may face additional charges.
Last December, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the director of the UK March for Life, was standing near the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when police approached after an onlooker complained she might be praying outside the abortion facility.
Vaughan-Spruce was standing in an area under a Public Spaces Protection Order ("PSPO"), which establishes a "safe zone" around abortion clinics and prohibits "engaging in any act of approval/disapproval," including praying.
Despite the dropped charges, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) warned Vaughan-Spruce charges "may well start again" in the near future, according to a report by Alliance Defending Freedom UK. "This is a warning prosecutors can issue when they expect that further evidence will be received," the legal nonprofit organization representing Vaughan-Spruce argued.
UK WOMAN ARRESTED FOR PRAYING NEAR ABORTION CENTER WARNS MORE ARRESTS MAY COME
To get a clear answer on whether silent prayer near abortion clinics is unlawful, Vaughan-Spruce says she will now be seeking a clear verdict in court.
The pro-life activist says she intends to continue supporting women seek alternatives to abortion.
"It’s important to me that I can continue my vital work in supporting women who’d like to avoid abortion if they only had some help. In order to do so, it’s vital that I have clarity as to my legal status. Many of us need an answer as to whether it’s still lawful to pray silently in our own heads. That’s why I’ll be pursuing a verdict regarding my charges in court," explained Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in a statement shared by ADF UK on Friday.
She blasted the PSPO buffer zones which made her silent prayer a "criminal" activity.
"It can’t be right that I was arrested and made a criminal, only for praying in my head on a public street. So-called ‘buffer zone legislation’ will result in so many more people like me, doing good and legal activities like offering charitable support to women in crisis pregnancies, or simply praying in their heads, being treated like criminals and even facing court," Vaughan-Spruce added.
UK MAN FINED FOR SILENTLY PRAYING OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC: REPORT
Vaughan-Spruce's legal counsel, Jeremiah Igunnubole, commended her next steps as necessary because of the CPS's warning more charges may be underway.
"Isabel is right to request proper clarity as to the lawfulness of our actions. It’s one thing for the authorities to humiliatingly search and arrest an individual simply for their thoughts. It’s quite another to initially deem those thoughts to be sufficient evidence to justify charges, then discontinue those charges due to ‘insufficient evidence’, and then to warn that further evidence relating to the already unclear charges may soon be forthcoming so as to restart the entire grueling process from the beginning," he explained.
Several other local councils have adopted PSPO zones, raising concerns about freedom of speech under threat across the UK.
The ADF UK legal counsel warned these buffer zones chill freedom of "expression and thought."
"This is a clear instance of the process becoming the punishment creating a chilling effect on free expression and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. ADF UK remain committed to supporting Isabel’s pursuit because no one should fear prosecution for silent prayer and thoughts in the privacy of their mind," commented Igunnubole.
On "Tucker Carlson Tonight," the pro-life activist revealed that abortion supporters have also expressed concern about these anti-protest laws.
Equating it to George Orwell's dystopian "1984" novel, she described her case as really about "freedom of thought" rather than abortion rights.
"This is more to do with freedom of thought here," she said. "It's even gone further than freedom of prayer. I mean, we all talk about the cancel culture and the concerns we have about people being canceled [for] speaking in public," she told Carlson in December.
Fox News' Kendall Tietz and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
