British police drop charges against woman who ‘prayed silently’
West Midlands Police Friday dropped charges against Isabel Vaughan-Spruce nearly a year after she was arrested for thoughts of prayer outside an abortion facility.
In December 2022 police officers approached Vaughan-Spruce as she stood quietly outside the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham and demanded she explain her presence. The woman told police she was not protesting but admitted that she “might be praying in my head.” Upon that admission the officers publicly subjected Vaughan-Spruce to a lengthy search — including a thorough hair examination — and led her away.
The abortion facility was closed at the time of the thought crime.
At the station, Vaughan-Spruce was shown photos of herself standing outside the abortion center. She was unable to recall for the police officers at which moment she had been praying or at which moment she had been thinking mundane thoughts, such as her lunch.
Vaughan-Spruce's thought crime falls under the Birmingham Council’s Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for the area, which prohibits “protesting, namely 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. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling.”
On Friday police notified Vaughan-Spruce that the charges against her and the six-month long investigation are being dropped, with an apology for the “the time this case has taken to come to this position.”
Vaughan-Spruce has vowed to continue praying silently outside feticide facilities.
“This isn’t 1984, but 2023 — I should never have been arrested or investigated simply for the thoughts I held in my own mind,” she said in a statement. “Now that authorities have twice settled on the conclusion that silent prayer is not a crime — a conclusion also reached by the Home Secretary last week — I am thankful to resume my practice of praying silently for women in crisis pregnancies,” she added.
The police’s decision comes soon after an open letter from Home Secretary Suella Braverman on September 2nd stating that “silent prayer, within itself, is not unlawful” and that, “holding lawful opinions, even if those opinions may offend others, is not a criminal offence.”
Vaughan-Spruce is not the only taxpayer who has been arrested for silent prayer.
Trial has been set for November 16th in the case of a British military veteran who is facing criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion center early this year.
Adam Smith-Connor was quietly standing with his back to an abortion center in Bournemouth in January when he was approached by law enforcement officers who asked him what he was doing.
“Well, I’m praying,” Smith-Connor answered.
An officer notified him that he was in an area governed by a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). Smith-Connor replied that he was aware prayer is outlawed in the vicinity.
“Can I ask what is the nature of your prayer today?” the officer asked.
The 49-year-old responded that he was praying for his dead son, who was killed by an abortion Smith-Connor had arranged twenty years prior.
The officer said they had to follow orders, and issued Smith-Connor a £100 ($127) fine for “the prayer that you’ve admitted to.” Smith-Conner was also criminally charged with breaching a public spaces protection order.
