Watch: Pro-Life Woman Interrogated, Initially Fined for Silently Praying Outside Abortion Clinic
A British woman was harassed by police and fined last week after was confronted about her decision to pray silently near an abortion clinic, according to a stunning report.
The Alliance Defending Freedom UK group shared a video online last Thursday of an exchange between a woman named Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and an officer with the West Midlands Police.
Reporter Mary Margaret Olohan with The Daily Signal confirmed the woman’s name.
The video shared by the ADF UK shows a female officer, whose name tag reads T. Jones, confronting Vaughan-Spruce about why she was outside of the clinic.
🚨BREAKING🚨
NEW FOOTAGE obtained by ADF UK shows an officer employed by West Midlands Police investigating the thoughts of a Christian standing still and SILENTLY PRAYING within an abortion facility “buffer zone” in Birmingham, 18th October.
👮👮👮 pic.twitter.com/bvyc11R8FZ
— ADF UK (@ADF_UK) October 26, 2023
“Are you here as part of an organized protest?” the officer asked Vaughan-Spruce, who politely responded, “No.”
The officer then asked her if she was part of either a “pro-life” or “pro-choice” organization, to which Vaughan-Spruce answered in the affirmative.
“I am, but I’m not here in that capacity,” she stated while she also noted she was not at the clinic in order to protest.
The officer then asked the pro-life advocate, “Are you here to pray for the lives of unborn children?”
Vaughan-Spruce appeared surprised by the question and she responded, “That’s a little bit leading, but no I’m not.”
After the officer asked her if she could pray “elsewhere,” Vaughan-Spruce said she could.
“Can your actions be done elsewhere?” the officer asked, to which the woman shot back,“I can pray elsewhere but I want to pray here today.”
The officer then asked her, “Why have you chosen the location, here, to stand?”
Vaughan-Spruce bluntly responded, “You know this an abortion center that I’m standing outside.”
After a bit of back and forth between the two women, Vaughan-Spruce told the officer she did not feel the need to move.
The officer then informed her she was standing in an “exclusion zone” where local laws say people are not permitted to protest.
According to the ADF UK, Vaughan-Spruce was fined but the fine has since been reduced to a warning.
The fine shown in the footage was later reduced to a warning.
THREE Christians have been issued with warnings within the past 2 weeks in relation to silent prayer in this public space.
PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/droK7vDwoz
— ADF UK (@ADF_UK) October 26, 2023
Vaughan-Spruce was arrested last December in the city of Birmingham for silently praying near an abortion clinic in the city’s Kings Norton neighborhood, the Signal reported.
Vaughan-Spruce’s latest run-in with police for praying silently near an abortion clinic comes as the U.K. has seen widespread and loud pro-Hamas gatherings since the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded thousands of innocent Jews.
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