A pro-life campaigner who silently prayed near an abortion clinic in Birmingham has been criminally charged.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce had been under investigation since January over the incident. She first became aware that she was being criminally charged when the Attorney General responded on 16 December to a parliamentary question from former Home Secretary Suella Braverman MP concerning her case.
That response said, “The Crown Prosecution Service has issued proceedings under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023, in relation to one case, since it was commenced on 31 October 2024.”
Vaughan-Spruce received written notice of the charges a few hours later from West Midlands Police.
It is the first time someone has been charged since the new laws for the so-called "safe access zones" were rolled out across England and Wales in October 2024 under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023. This case therefore differs from previous ones which fell under Public Spaces Protection Orders enforced by local authorities.
Laws governing the "safe access zones" make it a criminal offence to "influence any person's decision to access or facilitate abortion services at an abortion clinic", obstruct individuals from accessing abortion clinics, or "cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person in connection with a decision to access, provide or facilitate abortion services at an abortion clinic".
The Crown Prosecution Service has previously said that praying silently outside abortion clinics may not necessarily be a crime, and that decisions to prosecute will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Vaughan-Spruce is co-director of the pro-life organisation UK March for Life and has prayed near the same abortion clinic for 20 years. In 2023, she was acquitted by Birmingham Magistrates' Court after being prosecuted for breaching the terms of an abortion clinic buffer zone. Last year she received a £13,000 settlement from West Midlands Police over two wrongful arrests for praying silently in a buffer zone. Those matters were brought under different legal powers and are not part of the current proceedings.
She said it was "unbelievable" she was being prosecuted again.
"Silent prayer – or holding pro-life beliefs – cannot possibly be a crime. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought," she said.
Vaughan-Spruce is due to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on January 29. If convicted, she could be given an unlimited fine.
