Woman arrested after praying silently near a Birmingham abortion clinic subject to a PSPO

A charity volunteer who was praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham has been arrested and charged with with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO).

Faith-based charity ADF UK shared a video of the arrest of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, aged 45. She said she was arrested while she was praying silently nearby an abortion facility in Kings Norton.

Isabel said she was approached by the police on December 6, who asked her what she was doing while she was standing outside the clinic. She was later arrested after being searched at the scene.

After the arrest, Isabel said: “It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind.

“Censorship zones purport to ban harassment, which is already illegal. Nobody should ever be subject to harassment. But what I did was the furthest thing from harmful – I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind. Nobody should be criminalised for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK.”

The PSPO was signed off by both Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police on September 7, 2022 and it went live on September 16. It prevents both pro-life and pro-choice vigils/protests.

What West Midlands Police said

West Midlands Police said: “Isabel Vaughan-Spruce from Geraldine Road, Malvern, was arrested on December 6 and subsequently charged on December 15 with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). She was bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on February 2, 2023.

“The PSPO creates a zone around a specific facility to protect women from harassment by any means if they are seeking a medical procedure or advice at an abortion clinic.”