A British pro-life advocate arrested twice for praying silently outside a closed abortion clinic has reached a financial settlement amid concerns about a nationwide crackdown on such activity under the newly installed Labour Party government.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce will receive $16,900 after filing a claim against the West Midlands Police in Birmingham, England, for false imprisonment, assault and battery, and breaches of her human rights, according to the U.K.’s division of Alliance Defending Freedom.
“There is no place for Orwell’s Thought Police in 21st century Britain, and thanks to legal support I received from ADF U.K., I’m delighted that the settlement that I have received today acknowledges that,” Ms. Vaughan-Spruce said in a press release after Monday’s settlement. “Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned that this violation could be repeated at the hands of other police forces.”
The co-director of March for Life U.K., Ms. Vaughan-Spruce gained global attention after being arrested in March 2023 for standing and praying outside Birmingham’s Robert Clinic in violation of a local ordinance against expressions of “approval of disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services” near such medical centers.
The arrest came less than a month after she was acquitted of all charges in Birmingham Magistrates’ Court following her December 2022 arrest for the same infraction.
Despite the public outcry over her arrests, the British Home Office is expected to implement the Public Order Act passed last year restricting activity within 150 meters of abortion facilities, including all forms of influencing.
Such a change would override the draft guidance issued last year by the Conservative Party government that said: “Silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer toward God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offense under any circumstances.”
The alliance said that the “ambiguous wording of the ban has worried volunteers that engaging in consensual conversation, praying or simply offering a leaflet about help services available will lead to a criminal conviction, in further breach of rights to freedom of speech and thought.”
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the nation’s leading abortion provider, said the buffer zones were needed to protect medical professionals and clients from harassment and breaches of privacy, while pro-life groups argued that the measure will institute “thought crimes.”
The U.K.’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children called it “a profoundly worrying moment, and as usual, pro-life men and women are on the frontline of the attack on free speech.”
“If the Home Office ignores human rights so blatantly, a dangerous precedent will be set, making thoughtcrime a horrifying reality in the U.K.,” said an SPUC spokesperson in a Friday statement.
Two other British pro-life advocates — military veteran Adam Smith-Connor and retired scientist Livia Tossici-Bolt — are scheduled to face trial for holding up signs outside an abortion clinic saying “here to talk, if you want.”
Co-director of March for Life UK, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, speaks out after receiving a £13k payout from police following her wrongful arrests outside an abortion centre.
— March4LifeUK (@March4LifeUK) August 19, 2024
For more info check out todays Telegraph article:https://t.co/5rZGfH6zqr pic.twitter.com/OSdYnFidzK
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF U.K., warned of a “crisis of free speech” in Great Britain.
“The fact that the government is reportedly set to name silent prayer as a criminal offense, brazenly contrary to their commitment to international human rights law, exposes the crisis of free speech and thought in the U.K. today,” he said. “Law enforcers are duty bound to vigilantly protect, not prosecute, the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights.”
Michael Farmer, a Conservative Party member and life peer of the House of Lords, said Ms. Vaughan-Spruce’s experience was “a travesty of justice, and it is right that West Midlands Police make some compensation for the hardship she has endured.”
“But the wider issue remains that we are living through an undemocratic clampdown on Christian speech, expression and thought in the U.K., which is set to intensify when the government rolls out buffer zones nationwide,” he said.
Britain has a high abortion rate compared with other Western nations. One in 3 U.K. women will have an abortion by age 45, according to BPAS.
The World Population Review tracker placed the U.K. abortion rate per 1,000 women at 18.6 versus 17 for Sweden, 15.5 for France, 14.4 for the U.S., 12 for Denmark, 11 for Norway, 7.5 for Spain and 5.4 for Germany.
Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. women will have an abortion in her lifetime, as reported in April by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, based on 2020 data.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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