(CNS News.com) -- Isabel Vaughn-Spruce, the director of March for Life UK, was arrested outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England on Dec. 6 because she "might be praying" in her head, she told police, which is considered a violation of the buffer zone around the facility, a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in that city.
Vaughn-Spruce was not protesting or demonstrating. She was standing silently, alone on the sidewalk outside of the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham.
Three police officers -- two male, one female -- approached her. Two stood by while the other asked the British woman some questions. During the questions, he said, "What are you here for today?" She replied, "Physically, I'm just standing here."
He also asked, "Are you praying?" Vaughn-Spruce replied, "I might be praying in my head."
Shortly thereafter the officer said, "Well, you are under arrest on suspicion of failing to comply with the Public Space Protection Order."
During the arrest, the female police officer searched through Vaughn-Spruce's hair and extensively searched her person. (See video.) Reportedly, the woman had been observed by an "onlooker" praying outside the abortion clinic on three other occasions when it was closed.
In a statement, Vaughn-Spruce 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. Censorship zones purport to ban harassment, which is already illegal. Nobody should ever be subject to harassment."
"But what I did was the furthest thing from harmful – I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind," she said. "Nobody should be criminalized for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK."
ADF UK is a legal group that is supporting Vaughn-Spruce, as part of its larger challenge to censorship zone law.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for the organization, said, “Isabel’s experience should be deeply concerning to all those who believe that our hard-fought fundamental rights are worth protecting. It is truly astonishing that the law has granted local authorities such wide and unaccountable discretion, that now even thoughts deemed 'wrong' can lead to a humiliating arrest and a criminal charge."
“Isabel, a woman of good character, and who has tirelessly served her community by providing charitable assistance to vulnerable women and children, has been treated no better than a violent criminal," said Igunnubole. "The recent increase in buffer zone legislation and orders is a watershed moment in our country."
"We must ask ourselves whether we are a genuinely democratic country committed to protecting the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of speech," he added. "We are at serious risk of mindlessly sleepwalking into a society that accepts, normalizes, and even promotes the 'tyranny of the majority.'"
As part of her bail, Vaughn-spruce was told by the police that she must not contact a local priest "who was also involved in pro-life work – a condition that was later dropped," reported ADF UK. However, Vaughn-Spruce was also told not to pray even outside the buffer zone, the PSPO area, apparently to "prevent further offenses."
The PSPO says that people cannot be perceived to be “engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means," including through “graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counseling," reported the ADF UK.
More censorship zone laws are under consideration, legislation that would apply across England and Wales. "Clause 9 of the Public Order Bill, currently under parliamentary debate, would prohibit pro-life volunteers from 'influencing,' 'advising,' 'persuading,' 'informing,' 'occupying space' or even 'expressing opinion' within the vicinity of an abortion facility," reported ADF UK.
If convicted under the proposal, a person could face up to two years in prison.
The proposed national PSPO buffer zone is 150 meters or about 492 feet, much longer than a U.S. football field (300 feet, 360 feet with end zones).
Readers interested in supporting Isabel Vaughn-spruce with her legal case may contribute to an online fundraiser here.
