Conservatives and free speech campaigners on Twitter railed against a recent video showing police questioning and ultimate stop a pro-life woman silently praying outside an abortion clinic in the UK.
Those who witnessed the woman’s arrest after admitting she was “praying in my head” were appalled. Some claimed it was proof that Britain had become a dystopia.
The woman who was arrested, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, is the director of Britain’s March for Life.
A British woman is arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, UK.
(Screenshot/Twitter)
According to Alliance Defending Freedom United Kingdom (ADF UK), Vaughan-Spruce “was standing near the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham, in an area which ADF UK described as a ‘censorship zone’, when police approached her after a bystander complained that she may be praying outside the abortion center.”
According to ADF UK, authorities in Birmingham have established buffer zones near abortion clinics, prohibiting people from engaging in behavior disapproving or endorsing abortion. This includes “graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or advice”.
The clip shows the woman standing silently on a pavement opposite an abortion clinic as British law enforcement officers approach her. One asks why she is standing there and replies that she is there because of the abortion clinic. She denies being part of any protest.
The officer then asks, “Are you praying?” to which she replies, “I may be praying in my head.” The officer then asks her if she would agree to go to the police station to be questioned about her actions. “If I have a choice, then no,” she replies, after which the officer states, “You are under arrest” and claims that she is charged with “suspicion of not complying with the order. protection of public spaces.
Anglican priest Rev. Calvin Robinson criticized what he saw in the footage saying, “It’s terrifying. What have we become?! Under a Tory government too.”
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Jim Snively of Huntsville, Alabama waves to passing cars while holding an anti-abortion sign outside the Alabama Women’s Wellness Center in Huntsville on May 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Schultz)
Catholic author and founder of Compact Magazine, Sohrab Ahmari, tweeted: ‘OY YOU GO’ LICENSE TO PRAY IN YOUR ‘EAD MA’AM?
Pro-life lawyer Emily Rarick wrote: “This is absolute madness. How can someone be arrested for praying?”
Virginia GOP delegate Nick Freitas took the opportunity to remind users of George Orwell’s dystopia, tweeting, “1984 was a warning, not a guide.”
RedState associate editor Brandon Morse remarked, “If abortion advocates don’t believe in God and think prayer is actually stupid, then what are they so afraid of?”
Conservative scholar Lauren Chen tweeted: “People are literally being arrested for thought crimes the UK. Free speech is NOT a Western value, it is a uniquely American value.
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Nile Gardiner, former aide to the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, said: “It’s appalling. It’s shameful to see a woman arrested for simply praying on a British street. taken by the Home Secretary to ensure that scenes like this are not repeated.”
National Review writer Nate Hochman tweeted, “Sorry but imagine not having a First Amendment.”
NPR shocked listeners last fall when it aired audio of a Michigan woman having an abortion.
(Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
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