While some view this outcome as a win for religious freedom, the UK government is moving toward introducing nationwide legislation that would ban prayer near abortion facilities.

Vaughan-Spruce’s compensation comes as reports surface that the Home Office is preparing to criminalize prayer near abortion clinics through forthcoming “buffer zone” laws.

Although initial draft guidance in December indicated that silent prayer would be permitted within these zones, recent updates suggest the government is reconsidering this, with ministers now contemplating a ban on silent prayer near abortion clinics. Labour MP Stella Creasy remarked on X, “No one has a ‘right’ to pray in front of an abortion clinic – you can pray for women at home if you wish.”

Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested, charged, and tried in 2022 for silently praying within a Birmingham PSPO “buffer zone,” which prohibited any expression of “approval or disapproval regarding abortion services, by any means.” After being fully acquitted of all charges in February 2023, she was arrested again just weeks later while silently standing in the same zone.

When she admitted to police that she “might be praying in her mind,” an officer responded, “You’ve said you’re engaging in prayer, which is the offence.” This incident has sparked international criticism, including from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Source: dfinternational.org