After being cleared twice of charges for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in England, a woman has pled not guilty to new charges the prosecution was allowed to add during her preliminary hearing.
The presiding judge in the Oct. 7 hearing for Isabel Vaughan-Spruce let prosecutors add five charges, one for each time she prayed in a buffer zone, Alliance Defending Freedom reported. The original charges were logged against her in December 2025 and she pled “not guilty” in January 2026. Her trial is set for January 2027.
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ADF, which is supporting her defense, said Vaughan-Spruce was “criminally charged for standing and silently praying outside an abortion facility in Birmingham (England).”
After legislation establishing a 150-meter buffer zone at abortion clinics in England went into effect in 2024, Vaughan-Spruce is the first to face criminal charges.
Arrested again for ‘silent thoughts’
She was acquitted in 2023 of allegedly violating the Public Spaces Protection Order for praying outside an abortion clinic. Weeks later she was arrested again for “silent thoughts” in the same place, ADF said.
In 2024 she challenged her arrests and West Midlands Police settled by paying her more than $17,000.
“[B]uffer zones are being used to punish those engaged in peaceful conduct for nothing other than what they think or believe,” said ADF legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole, a London-based barrister.
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