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The area surrounding the facility near where she prayed has been covered by a local Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), in force since November, which prohibits prayer, distributing information about pregnancy help services, and other activities considered to constitute 'protest'.ĪDF said in a release this morning: 'The volunteer, who has supported women in crisis pregnancies for over twenty years, was charged with 'protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users,' despite the fact that the abortion facility was closed during the time in which she was present and praying, and despite her clear statement that she was not there to protest.'ĪDF UK are a British branch of the American conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, who have campaigned and lobbied against the right to an abortion and against the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the States. She had been standing there some time, and was not carrying a sign, when an officer approached after a complaint from a member of the public.īut she has been acquitted of all charges in a ruling handed down by Birmingham Magistrates Court this morning. Ms Vaughan-Spruce, 45, was charged with four counts of violating the abortion clinic 'buffer zone' after she admitted that she might have been praying silently while standing outside.

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'We ask parliamentarians to think long and hard about whether we are still a free and democratic society and a free and democratic country and if so national censorship zones must be rejected.'

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The withdrawn charges related to dates in October, November and December last year.ĭuring brief separate hearings on Thursday, Ms Pruce said both cases had been judged not to meet the 'full code test' for prosecutors - which assesses whether prosecutions are in the public interest and if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.ĪDF UK legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole said: 'Isabel and Father Sean's cases show that the current plans to introduce censorship zones across England and Wales constitute a dangerous step towards an illiberal society. Prosecutor Ekene Pruce told the hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court that the CPS had dropped four charges of failing to comply with a PSPO brought against Father Gough and charity volunteer Ms Vaughan-Spruce. 'We must stand firm against this and ensure that these most fundamental freedoms are protected, and that all our laws reflect this.' 'But what is profoundly anti-social are the steps now being taken to censor freedom of speech, freedom to offer help, freedom to pray and even freedom to think. 'When it comes to censorship zones, peaceful prayer and attempts to offer help to women in crisis pregnancies are now being described as either 'criminal' or 'anti-social'. Ms Vaughn-Spruce previously said: 'It's abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind' But I should never have been arrested for my thoughts and treated like a criminal simply for silently praying on a public street. Reacting to the not guilty verdict this morning, Ms Vaughan-Spruce said in a statement outside court: 'I'm glad I've been vindicated of any wrongdoing. Similarly, a priest - Father Sean Gough - who was charged for praying within the same censorship zone in Birmingham has today been cleared at Birmingham Magistrates Court. Her arrest sparked a fierce debate, with supporters saying she was effectively arrested for 'thoughtcrime', a term which her legal representatives ADF UK used - but today she has been cleared of all charges.

Ms Vaughan-Spruce was confronted by police when she was standing on the street outside the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham, on December 6. In a video that went viral, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, director of anti-abortion group March for Life UK, was seen being searched and arrested by three police officers after saying that she 'might be' praying inside her head. A Catholic woman who was prosecuted for silently praying outside an abortion clinic has been acquitted.

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