British police will pay £13,000 to a Christian arrested for “illegal prayer” before the abortion “clinic”. It's Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested twice for silent prayer close an abortion center in Birmingham and appealed against the sentence.
The settlement took place at a time erstwhile the UK government intends to strengthen the fight against silent prayer close abortion facilities, clearly identifying it as a "crime" in the national buffer zones government presently being prepared around abortion facilities. Life defenders point out that these regulations can become a “canker for freedom of speech and thought” in Britain. This pre-taste is already provided by the existing rules on the protection of public space, which prohibit protests against abortion “clips” and the intimidation of their patients. It was under this paragraph that British policemen drew up Isabel Vaughan-Spruce's "silent prayer", which resulted in her arrest.
Prayer-free zones
For the first time, a female was detained in December 2022 for a silent prayer in front of a closed abortion facility. In February 2023, Vaughan-Spruce was acquitted of all charges related to the incident. However, she was arrested again for the same in March 2023. “Silent prayer is not a crime. No 1 should be arrested just for the thoughts he has in his head – and yet it happened to me twice at the hands of West Midlands region Police, who clearly told me that ‘praying is simply a crime’," said Vaughan-Spruce in a message issued by the Alliance defence Freedom (ADF UK) who is handling her case. The organisation has reported that a female has filed a suit against the police for 2 unlawful arrests and imprisonments; assault and battery in connection with the intrusive search of her person; and a violation of her human rights both in respect of the arrests and the cumbersome conditions imposed on her on bail.
The police are thinking
Lord David Frost, a Conservative organization associate and erstwhile government minister, expressed concern about the improvement of the situation. In his comments to ADF UK, he said: “It is unbelievable that people have been arrested for reasoning a crime in modern Britain. I am very pleased that Mrs Vaughan-Spruce has received compensation for unfair arrest for the alleged crime." The acquittal of a British Christian hates the fear of possible future violations of spiritual freedom and freedom of thought in the country. The government seeks to introduce national “buffer zones” around abortion facilities, which may lead to further arrests for silent prayer or to the provision of assistance to women considering abortion.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, who is the legal advisor to the Alliance for the Defence of Freedom, stressed that the possible designation of "silent prayer" as a crime violates Britain's commitment to global human rights and exposes the crisis of freedom of speech and thought in the country. After reaching an agreement with the Isabel Vaughan-Spruce police, she stated that “in the 21st-century United Kingdom there is no place for the “thought police” and Orwell, and this is confirmed by the deal she made”. At the same time, she expressed concern that the government could lead to a recurrence of the situation in the future and even exacerbate it.
Moving the border
Human rights defenders point out that in the UK, there is simply a "thought of crime", an example of which is the arrest of a Christian female who prayed in her mind, without saying a single word and without showing external disapproval for abortion. Lobbied government is compared to the "thought of crime" known from Orwelska literature. Life defenders indicate that this rule applies to the boundaries of freedom and that all restrictions apply only to people defending life and the actual family. Christian thought, prayer and the defence of conventional values are increasingly censored.
Source: KAI
Arrested for reasoning a crime. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce talks about how she became a “criminal” due to prayer
