A video has emerged online showing the arrest of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, director of the anti-abortion group March for Life UK, for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham. This is the second time Vaughan-Spruce has been arrested for this offence, despite being acquitted only three weeks prior.
In the video, officers ask Vaughan-Spruce to leave the exclusion zone around the clinic, but she claims she is not protesting and not engaging in any prohibited activities. The officer explains that her silent prayer is still considered an offence, and she is subsequently arrested by six officers.
ADF UK, a charity committed to protecting freedom of expression and campaigning against buffer zones, reports that Vaughan-Spruce has been subject to bail conditions that prohibit her from going near the abortion facility.
She has released a statement through her legal representatives, criticizing the ambiguity of laws that limit free expression and thought.
Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) are designed to prevent anti-social behaviour and give local councils the power to enforce them. MPs have introduced buffer zones around abortion clinics, making it an offence to intimidate or harass anyone within 150 meters of the building.
The law change came about over concerns about councils being sued by anti-abortion campaigners challenging PSPOs.
West Midlands Police confirmed Vaughan-Spruce’s arrest on suspicion of breaching a PSPO.
The order was put in place by a court, following a joint application from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council, to protect women from harassment if they seek medical advice at an abortion clinic.
Buffer zones have been introduced around abortion clinics to prevent specific abortion-related harassment, such as displaying graphic signs, following and filming women, and repeatedly approaching women and doctors.
The UK’s first buffer zone was introduced in Ealing, west London, in 2018.
While pro-choice campaigners see buffer zones as a step towards destigmatizing abortion and preventing harassment, critics view them as an attack on freedom of expression. MPs are set to debate on the rollout of buffer zones across England and Wales.
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