A charity volunteer has been criminally charged in the UK for having stood and silently prayed outside an abortion facility, where attempts to “influence” those seeking an abortion is prohibited.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce had previously been wrongfully arrested under local ordinance laws n Birmingham and received a settlement from West Midlands Police of £13,000.

This time she was charged under a new national “buffer zones” law.

It prohibits “influencing any person’s decision to access, provide or facilitate abortion services” within 150m of abortion facilities.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s guidance on the law stipulates that silent prayer on its own is not enough to meet the threshold of criminality unless it is accompanied by “overt” activity. The “overt” activity seems to be the act of standing publicly near the clinic.

Ms Vaughan-Spruce commented that “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.”