Isabel Vaughan-Spruce pleads not guilty to 5 new charges over silently praying outside abortion clinic
A court in the United Kingdom is hearing a case about a woman who was charged with violating a national "buffer zone" law when she prayed silently outside of an abortion clinic.
The Birmingham Magistrates' Court is currently hearing the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Catholic charity volunteer who was charged in December 2025 with violating the buffer zone law.
On Wednesday, the judge allowed prosecutors to bring five new charges against Vaughan-Spruce in place of the earlier charge, which he said was "not properly drafted," according to ADF International. The pro-life woman pleaded not guilty to the new charges, having pleaded not guilty to the earlier allegations in January. Her trial is set for Jan. 25-29, 2027.
“Standing silently and holding certain beliefs in a public space should never be a crime,” said Vaughan-Spruce in a statement provided to The Christian Post by ADF International. “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.”
Her legal team argues that the prosecution is an "abuse of process," that it violates her rights under Articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that she has been "singled out," according to ADF International. On the first day of a three-day hearing, Judge Tan Ikram said the case "is not about abortion rights; it is about a criminal offense which Parliament has defined" and that "courts are not here to pass judgment on people's views." The judge also said that "standing is not a crime," but that the focus should be on whether she intended to influence or harass others.
Vaughan-Spruce is facing prosecution under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023, which went into effect in October 2024 and prohibits any act considered “influencing” within 150 meters (164 yards) of an abortion clinic.
Section 9 of the Act labels the 150-meter space a “safe access zone” and deems it unlawful to engage in “influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services at an abortion clinic” or to obstruct access to a facility. A person found guilty is liable on summary conviction to a fine.
The law exempts “a person inside a dwelling where the person affected is also in that or another dwelling” and “a person inside a building or site used as a place of worship where the person affected is also in that building or site.”
In December 2025, Vaughan-Spruce reportedly became the first person to be charged under the Act for praying quietly outside of an abortion clinic in Birmingham on multiple occasions.
Vaughan-Spruce had previously faced charges for her practice of praying silently outside of an abortion clinic in 2022, being arrested under a local Public Spaces Protection Order.
The charges were dismissed in February 2023, though prosecutors also said that charges "may well start again" if authorities received new evidence related to the case.
Vaughan-Spruce was again arrested in March 2023, but then received a formal apology and £13,000 (approximately $17,500) in damages from West Midlands Police.
