Michael Brown: How Thinking a Prayer Was Made a Crime

It seemed impossible to believe at first. There must be more to this story than meets our eyes.

It turned out that the report was accurate. An English Christian pro-life leader was not only arrested for standing in front an abortion clinic, but also because of her faith. The crime of praying in front of an abortion clinic was also a charge she was facing. Talk about being tried for something! “thought crime.” This was a true miracle.

In the words Isabel Vaughan Spruce, founder of the UK March for Life “It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind. Nobody should be criminalized for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK.”

The report was sent to me by a pastoral friend. stated, “In yet another assault on Christianity in Britain, a pro-life activist was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England.”

An embedded link to Mary Margaret Olohan’s Twitter account was included in the article. It contained a video This arrest.

In the video, VaughanSpruce is politely questioned by the police officer “Are you praying?” She responds: “I might be praying in my head.” (Do I need my standard caveat to be added? “I’m not making this up!”?)

Twitter added an additional note that states: “The woman in the video, Isabel Vaughan Spruce, was not arrested for silently praying. She was arrested for breaking a temporary Public Space Protection Order on four separate occasions which was used to ban protests outside of an abortion clinic due to safety concerns.” (The note is linked to this story).

That’s what I had been wondering about when I read the initial piece and watched the video. Perhaps she wasn’t allowed in the clinic. Maybe that was her crime.

Even though it seems outrageous that such a regulation was made, and since it is clear that she wasn’t harassing anyone or threatening anyone by her presence, what if her actual presence was the problem, and not her praying? Wouldn’t that mean that the attention-getting headlines were not accurate? Wouldn’t that mean that the very headline to this article was misleading?

It turned out that there are Public Spaces Protection Orders zones (PSPO), which protect abortion clinics as well as other places. Vaughan-Spruce was forbidden from standing in that particular area, regardless of how gracious and peaceful she might be.

However, the Alliance Defending Freedom U.K. has made it clear that this is not the case. “The censorship zone measure introduced by Birmingham authorities criminalises individuals percieved to be ‘engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval’ in relation to abortion, including through ‘verbal or written means, prayer or counselling…’.”

Accordingly, “Whilst in the police station, Vaughan-Spruce was shown pictures of herself outside the abortion facility. She said she could not recall from the pictures whether she was praying at these specific moments, or whether these had been taken at times that she was distracted and thought about other things, such as her lunch. She maintains that all her thoughts were equally peaceful and imperceptible and that none should be criminalised.”

Yes, she was quizzed about whether she had been praying in the mind of her own thoughts. This is not a figment of Christian paranoia. This is not a figment Christian paranoia. This is the reality.

Jeremiah Igunnubole (Legal Counsel for ADF UK) responded to the outrageous arrest and interrogation. “Isabel’s experience should be deeply concerning to all those who believe that our hard-fought fundamental rights are worth protecting. It is truly astonishing that the law has granted local authorities such wide and unaccountable discretion, that now even thoughts deemed ‘wrong’ can lead to a humiliating arrest and a criminal charge.”

The police actually “imposed restrictions, as part of her bail, on Vaughan-Spruce engaging in public prayer beyond the PSPO area, stating that this was necessary to prevent further offences.”

To paraphrase: “Thou shalt not pray, even in the privacy of your mind, anywhere near this abortion clinic!”

One month earlier on November 24Located in Bournemouth (UK). “Local woman Livia Tossici-Bolt was praying quietly with a friend in a public space when she was warned by local authorities that their prayer could cause ‘intimidation, harassment or distress’, and was asked to move away.”

To be clear, I have not been quoting from Orwell’s 1984.

Quite the contrary. Big Brother cannot read our thoughts. Not even The Chinese Communist Party of China can read its people’s minds. No one, not even Kim Jong-Un from North Korea, can imprison anyone who dares to think a thought. Only God Almighty knows the thoughts of people’s hearts.

Of course, the British police didn’t know what Vaughan-Spruce was thinking either, because they had to ask, “Are you praying?”

Oh, the crime! Oh! The horror!

“Yes, Officer, I confess! I am guilty, so guilty! I might have been praying in my mind!”

To repeat: This was not Orwell’s 1984. This was England in 2022. Let that sink in.

In the days to follow, I urge every UK citizen who values freedom and justice to peacefully stand in front every nearby abortion clinic and engage in silent prayer.

In recent years, many street preachers have been detained for answering a Bible question honestly or preaching certain biblical texts. here). Now, Christian prolifers face arrest for praying loudly or quietly. Who can imagine what’s coming next?

With confidence, I can state this: If Christians (and other freedom loving people) in the UK are not willing to push back now with grace and humility, kindness, courage, and kindness, there will most definitely be a. “next.”

Now is the time to act and pray! The time to speak and act (and pray!) is now.