By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BIRMINGHAM, BRITAIN (Worthy News) - There was concern Thursday that Christians publicly expressing their faith in Britain could face a ‘thought police’ after a Christian woman was forced to leave an area near an abortion clinic for silently praying there.
New footage shows Isabel Vaughan-Spruce being accused of breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) outside the clinic in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city.
The video recording released by Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF UK) and reviewed by Worthy News shows a police officer interrupting Vaughan-Spruce's prayerful presence and asking her to leave.
The officer tells the Christian that her “mere presence” may constitute “harassment, alarm, and distress” given that she is known to have “anti-abortion” views and belongs to a pro-life group.
“I know you are not saying anything,” he adds but concludes that she has to move away for breaching the rules of the “buffer zone” – an area within 150 meters (492 feet) of an abortion facility.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce then explains that she is “literally here silently saying some prayers” and that “simply because of my beliefs, I am being asked to move.”
AFD UK said in a statement that the incident took place despite the local West Midlands Police previously issuing an apology and a payout of 13,000 pounds ($16,232) for “breaching” Vaughan-Spruce’s human rights on two prior occasions when they “arrested her for praying silently in the same buffer zone.”
‘TARGETED FOR BELIEFS’
"[The officer] believes that just because I hold pro-life beliefs, I am automatically a criminal in certain public areas. This isn’t right,” complained Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in comments obtained by Worthy News.
Earlier, Vaughan-Spruce, who has been “a crisis pregnancy volunteer for two decades” and prayed near the abortion facility every week throughout that time, was tried for breaching the buffer zone by “praying silently in her mind” at Birmingham Magistrates Court in February 2023, “and was found innocent,” AFD UK recalled.
The [Crown Prosecution Service] CPS Guidance from October 2024 stipulates that silent prayer is “not necessarily” a crime in an abortion “buffer zone,” AFD UK confirmed. “The guidance further states that any actions must be “overt” to meet the threshold of criminality.”
Commenting on the latest exchange, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce said: “It has been made clear time and time again through the verdict of Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, through the concession and payout from the police, through the words of the former Home Secretary and CPS Guidance – you cannot break the law by simply existing in a buffer zone, holding thoughts and beliefs in your mind.”
She added, “Every person has a right to stand in a public space and think what they want. The police officer told me that my “mere presence” was offensive – that’s nothing short of viewpoint discrimination. He believes that just because I hold pro-life beliefs, I am automatically a criminal in certain public areas. This isn’t right.”
ADF UK legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole, who assists her in the case, agrees with that assessment. “Nobody should be criminalized for publicly holding lawful views or associating with any lawful cause. The idea that the state can interrogate citizens and instruct them to leave certain public areas based on their pro-life beliefs and associations is profoundly chilling and concrete evidence if ever we needed more, of viewpoint-based two-tier policing.”
He wondered, “If Isabel can be treated this way, then what does this mean for all Christians holding to biblical truths?”
NOT 1984 ERA?
The lawyer noticed, “This isn’t 1984,” in an apparent reference to George Orwell's book in which policing by authorities is a theme. It’s 2025—police must respect the fundamental rights of freedom of speech, thought, and association.”
The incident came while a retired medical scientist from the coastal town of Bournemouth prepared to face trial next month on charges relating to her charitable work supporting women in crisis pregnancies, Worthy News learned.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, 63, held a sign reading “Here to talk if you want to” near an abortion facility in Bournemouth. “Several individuals approached her to take up her offer of a conversation about matters going on in their lives,” announced AFD UK. “There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this,” stressed Tossici-Bolt.
However, local authorities confronted Tossici-Bolt, alleging that she had breached the “buffer zone,” which bans “expression of approval or disapproval of abortion.”
They then issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, which Tossici-Bolt refused to pay, on grounds she did not breach the terms of the PSPO and had the right, “protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, to offer consensual conversations. Tossici-Bolt “will face trial at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court on March 6, 2025. ADF UK is supporting her legal defense,” AFD UK confirmed.
The case upsets Tossici-Bolt. “For several years now, I have been offering a helping hand to women who would like to consider other options for abortion and pointing them to options where they can receive financial and practical support if that’s what they would like,” she recalled.
“There’s nothing wrong with offering help. There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this,” Tossici-Bolt added.