UK pro-life activist pleads not guilty to praying silently in ‘buffer zone’

(LifeSiteNews) — Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Catholic pro-life activist from Worcestershire, pleaded not guilty to five charges under England and Wales’ abortion buffer-zone law, accusations built around silent prayer near a clinic in Birmingham.

She denied the charges in Birmingham Magistrates’ Court during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday after first being charged in December 2025. She is the first person charged under the national rules, which took effect in October 2024.

The law bars activity intended to influence, or reckless as to whether it might influence, a person’s decision to “access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services” within 150 meters of an abortion facility.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children reported that the alleged breaches occurred on five days between June and November 2025 outside a facility in the Kings Norton area and that prosecutors succeeded in having the incidents treated as five separate offenses rather than one.

The defense argued that continuing with the prosecution would be an abuse of process. Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram is expected to decide next month whether the case goes to trial; if it does, prosecutors have said a hearing before January is unlikely.

‘Standing is not a crime’

On the first day of the three-day abuse of process hearing, Ikram noted that the legislation requires an “act” to be committed within the buffer zone, indicating that the current charge was “not properly drafted” and that “the prosecution bear the burden to make it clear.”

He also told the court, “This case is not about abortion rights, it is about a criminal offence which Parliament has defined … Courts are not here to pass judgment on people’s views.”

On the second day, he allowed five fresh charges, “one for each occasion she prayed silently within the ‘buffer zone.’”

According to a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Ikram also affirmed that “standing is not a crime … It doesn’t matter how many times you do it, mere presence is not enough.” He went on to instruct that the focus of the case must be on whether or not Vaughan-Spruce had the “requisite intent to influence or harass others,” for which she pleaded “not guilty” to all five new charges.

Vaughan-Spruce’s defense team argued that she has been “singled out,” pointing out that if her pro-life convictions were not already known, “her presence within the ‘buffer zone’ would not have been considered an offence.” Further, they charge, Parliament did not intend the law to “criminalise conduct of this kind” or to override the “absolute rights to freedom of thought and to hold a particular religious belief.”

‘Buffer zones’ being used to punish those holding certain beliefs

Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and legal counsel for ADF in London, put the objection more sharply.

“To criminally charge someone simply for holding a certain belief within a certain location amounts to thought policing, which has no place in a democratic society,” he said. “Far from criminalising harassment and abusive behaviour – which are already criminal offences – buffer zones are being used to punish those engaged in peaceful conduct for nothing other than what they think or believe.”

He called the statute “deeply flawed, liable to misuse along ideological lines, and harmful to basic freedoms,” and warned, “If simply thinking the ‘wrong’ thing can result in criminal prosecution, the UK can no longer call itself a free country.”

Vaughan-Spruce subjected to previous failed prosecutions

The latest charges come in the wake of previous attempts by officials to prosecute Vaughan-Spruce for the certain thoughts while standing in a “buffer zone.”

In November 2022, she was arrested while standing silently on the sidewalk in Birmingham. When officers questioned her, she explained that “I might be praying in my head, but I’ve said nothing out loud.” That arrest — also captured on video — went viral and sparked international outrage.

Weeks later, she was arrested again for the “thought crime” of silent prayer. At the time, a total of six police officers attended the scene, with one confirming to her that “you’ve said you’re engaging in prayer, which is the offense.”

In the first case, the courts said that the evidence against her could not be proved. Eventually, the courts sided with her and the police had to apologize for their efforts in 2023.

In 2024, Vaughan-Spruce sued West Midlands Police and won £13,000 ($16,850) in damages, with the court acknowledging wrongful arrest and other violations that its officers conducted.

‘Standing silently and holding certain beliefs’ should ‘never be a crime’

Under the new national buffer zone law, Vaughan-Spruce, who serves as the co-director of the March for Life UK and the campaign director for 40 Days for Life Birmingham, has again found herself facing another prosecution.

Speaking to ADF, Vaughan-Spruce said, “Standing silently and holding certain beliefs in a public space should never be a crime.

“Yet, despite being vindicated of wrongdoing on multiple occasions and receiving a financial settlement after two wrongful arrests, I was once again charged last year for my mere presence within a ‘buffer zone,’ and have today received fresh charges.

“I am deeply troubled by this violation of the basic right to my own thoughts and to my deeply held Christian pro-life convictions.

“I pray that common sense and freedom will prevail, so that no one else has to face criminal treatment for what they believe.”