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A British Christian activist facing new criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic warns her country is becoming increasingly “Orwellian,” telling Fox News Digital that ordinary citizens are increasingly afraid to pray in public as her legal battle heads toward trial.
“It certainly sounds very Orwellian and a lot of people have mentioned that particular word to me,” Isabel Vaughan-Spruce told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday. “It seems like we really are harboring a sense of intolerance in our communities.”
Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, spoke to Fox News Digital after pleading not guilty in January to new charges in Birmingham, England, in a case that her lawyers say tests the limits of religious freedom and the government’s authority to regulate conduct near abortion centers.
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Isabel Vaughan-Spruce praying in silence. (Alliance Defending Freedom)
She had already received a £13,000 out-of-court settlement from police after filing a complaint for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment following her earlier arrests for praying silently near an abortion clinic.
Today, Vaughan-Spruce says she faces another charge after returning to pray in silence near the same facility following the introduction of buffer zones for abortion clinics nationwide in October 2024.
Vaughan-Spruce told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the controversy has fostered intolerance toward people with different religious and moral beliefs.
“I don’t believe that those who are pro-life or Christians should be treated as some kind of social pariah,” she added.
“A lot of people are worried about what might happen to them because of this,” Vaughan-Spruce added. “And I’ve heard that from a lot of people, you know, just concerned about something as simple as praying when they’re in a public space.”
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Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and Jeremiah Igunnubole, lawyer and legal advisor to Alliance Defending Freedom in London. (Alliance Defending Freedom)
She expressed concern about the long-term implications of policies such as buffer zones on freedom of expression.
“I think we need to know our rights and exercise our rights, and not be bullied by other people in that regard, and particularly our rights under God as Christians to be able to pray wherever we want to pray, certainly if it’s something internal in our heads, and not end up self-censoring because prayer is a very, very important part of our Christian life,” Vaughan-Spruce said. “And we certainly need more of that in the streets, prayer, not less.”
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Protesters stage a demonstration against the ‘abortion clinic buffer zone’ outside the Scottish Parliament on September 24, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. In Scotland, a new law prohibits protesters from gathering within 200 meters of clinics where abortions are performed. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
His lawyer, Jeremiah Igunnubole, described the prosecution as the first of its kind in Britain and argued the case raised a fundamental question about whether the government could punish someone for their private thoughts and prayers rather than their outward conduct.
“To be clear, remaining in the buffer zone is not a crime,” Igunnubole told Fox News Digital. “So the question exactly, the precise question is, exactly what was Isabel accused of? We can only say that it was for her thoughts and the fact that she lifted her heart and her mind to God in prayer.”
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Portrait of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce. (Alliance Defending Freedom)
When asked where the line should be drawn when it comes to freedom of expression, Igunnubole said the government should never have the power to regulate an individual’s private thoughts.
“This is certainly not the case when the state purports to regulate an individual’s thoughts, and we believe this is a red line that cannot be crossed in the UK under the Human Rights Act,” Igunnubole said. “There is an absolute right to freedom of thought and that means no qualifications are permitted or permitted.”
Fox News Digital contacted the Home Office and the Crown Prosecution Service for comment, who declined to comment due to the ongoing case.
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