UK: Pro-life activist arrested for silent prayer inside buffer zone is left in legal limbo

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A UK pro-life activist who was arrested for allegedly praying silently within an abortion clinic buffer zone has been left in a state of “significant uncertainty” after Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service dropped its charge against her but said the indictment may yet be reinstated, Christian Today (CT) reports. 

Activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested in December near an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England which is subject to a Public Spaces Protection Order prohibiting pro-life activity within 150 meters of it, CT said. 

Although Vaughan-Spruce claims the clinic was closed on the day of her arrest, she was charged with “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users” and was ordered to appear in court on February 2, CT reports.

Vaughan-Spruce’s attorney, Jeremiah Igunnubole of ADF UK, said in a statement that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had indicated the charge was being dropped, and the case would no longer proceed at the appointed time, CT reports. However, Igunnubole said, the CPS had “made it clear” the charge could be reinstated.

“This leaves Isabel in significant legal uncertainty, and her priority is to obtain legal clarity on what, if any, liability she may incur in the future based on the charges laid against her,” Igunnubole said. “ADF UK will continue to support Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, because nobody should be criminalized simply for praying inside their own mind.”

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