A 48-year-old charity worker has made history as the first individual charged under Britain's national "buffer zone" legislation.
Catholic pro-life campaigner Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested earlier this year after being seen praying silently outside a Birmingham abortion facility.
Prosecutors informed her on Thursday that she would face charges after months of deliberation.
The charge alleges she stood within a restricted area on four separate occasions between June and November, intending to influence decisions about abortion services.
She will appear before Birmingham Magistrates' Court on January 29 - where a guilty verdict could see her handed an unlimited fine.
This charge marks the latest chapter in a protracted dispute between Ms Vaughan-Spruce and West Midlands Police over her presence near the clinic, where she has prayed for two decades.
Officers first detained her in December 2022 for silent prayer within a local authority buffer zone surrounding the Kings Norton facility.
Birmingham Magistrates' Court cleared her of all charges in February 2023 after prosecutors presented no evidence.
'I'm literally just standing there. I'm not staring at people as they go in,' Ms Vaughan-Spruce said
|ADF INTERNATIONAL
She was arrested again weeks later, with police telling her that silent prayer within the zone constituted an offence.
A six-month investigation followed before charges were abandoned.
West Midlands Police subsequently apologised and paid her £13,000 in compensation.
Parliament enacted the buffer zones law in October 2024, banning any form of "influence" within 150 metres of abortion clinics across England and Wales.
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Prosecutors informed the charity worker on Thursday that she would face charges after months of deliberation
|ADF INTERNATIONAL
The 48-year-old has defended her conduct, explaining that during prayer she turns her focus inwardly "towards God".
"I'm literally just standing there. I'm not staring at people as they go in. I'm not trying to have a conversation with anybody, I'm just simply silent and in my head," she said.
"Despite being fully vindicated multiple times after being wrongfully arrested for my thoughts, it's unbelievable that I have yet again been charged for standing in that public area, and holding pro-life beliefs.
"Silent prayer - or holding pro-life beliefs - cannot possibly be a crime. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought," Ms Vaughan-Spruce added.
US Vice President JD Vance has backed her campaign
| REUTERSUS Vice President JD Vance has backed her campaign, labelling British buffer zones an assault on the "basic liberties of religious Britons".
Jeremiah Igunnubole, a lawyer with ADF International, which represents her, condemned the legislation.
"'Buffer zones' are among the most concerning frontiers of censorship in the modern West," Mr Igunnubole said.
"We all stand against harassment and abuse, but the 'buffer zone' law broadly bans 'influence', which is being interpreted by police officers to target innocent people who happen to stand in a certain place and believe a certain thing.
"We will continue to robustly challenge this unjust censorship, and support Isabel's right to think and believe freely as is the right of every person in the UK."
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