‘Are You Praying?’ Authorities Arrest Woman for Silently Praying Outside an Abortion Clinic

Mary Margaret Olohan – The Daily Signal Dec 22, 2022

Authorities have arrested a pro-life woman for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in the United Kingdom.

News of Isabel Vaughan Spruce’s arrest comes amid anxieties over the Justice Department’s crackdown on pro-life activists in the United States, such as Mark Houck, a pro-life father arrested for allegedly pushing an abortion clinic volunteer who was reportedly bothering his son as they prayed outside an abortion clinic.

Footage published by Alliance Defending Freedom shows police confronting Spruce, who has been charged with breaking a Public Space Protection Order for praying silently near an abortion clinic on four different occasions in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

The woman stands silently praying as the police approach her and ask what she is doing, after which she tells them that she “might” be praying in her head.

“Are you praying?” He asks her.

“I might be praying in my head,” she responds.

The police then search her, arrest her, take her to a police station where they interrogate her, and charge her with breaking the Public Space Protection Order by silently praying.

“No citizen should be criminalised for legitimate, peaceful activity, even prayer. Isabel’s case demonstrates just how far the state can go if we do not vigilantly guard fundamental rights and freedoms,” Scottish communications officer for ADF UK Lois McLatchie said in a statement.

“Politicians in Westminster and Holyrood should take note as they consider rolling out this censorial measure nationwide—if we truly value civil liberties and fundamental rights it should unfathomable for the law to permit a repeat of Isabel’s experience, let alone endorsed by our elected representatives and rolled out nationally.”

Longer Version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6E105a58p8

Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, emphasized that the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 “permits a constable to search an arrested person ‘for anything he might use to assist him to escape lawful custody’ or ‘which might be evidence relating to an offence.’”

But such searches must be “reasonably required,” he noted.

Coninued at Source https://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=262756