Pro-life activist arrested for praying silently near an abortion facility

She wasn't punished for 'silent introspection' - she was punished for breaking the law around buffer zones and violating protection orders that have had to be introduced because of the harrasment and abuse her group dish out to people and is trying to act like the victim.

The protection orders are only granted after an abuhdance of evidence - in this case over 2100 complaints from local businesses and residents that the anti-abortion group have been inciting fear, harrasment and intimidation.

Not sure how things work in the US but over here police tend to arrest people who repeatedly break the law on multiple counts in public and attract 1000s of complaints.

a reply to: bastion

the establishment going down the route though of arresting/punishing people for thinking/writing/saying things others disagree with will only create more dissenting voices not less.. we see this with the esperation of Sussex police to arrest Posie Parker for wrong think or Rosie Duffield stating she'll go to prison before she repeats the TW mantra..

each force is being caught between existing in a plural state and arresting the opponents of one side, we see this with the demand to arrest and jail Jeremy Clarkson for disrespecting Meghan. and these are people who openly suggest using ropes/lampposts to deal with their political opponents.

things are now going down the route of one group demanding to right to bare arms to sort out their political opponents.. so yes some do think they are in the USA wanting the right to kill their political opponents is not something we've seen in England since the civil war.. its why it all looks very much like the reformation and the clash of religions..

my point is the police will only create more dissenters but more will seek martyrdom not less.. the police are generating that not diminishing it..

The article in question omits several rather glaring details about this event, it’s lead up and the conduct of her group of deranged cultists that led to the establishment of the orders she violated in the first place.

Trash-tier reporting.

a reply to: Maxmars

"It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind," Vaughan-Spruce said following her arrest.

What did the Police charge her with specifically?

a reply to: Terpene

I told you there comes the day, we all wished wouldn't come...
could it be she had an police order on the property already? Maybe known prolife activist. Sometimes they get locked out of certain zones in cities. One thing is for sure the police did not go against the law, but she most propably did.

So yes play stupid games win stupid prizes, and no flip flops won't help...

problem though remains the establishment and police stepping into thought crime territory, its the same with many others up to and including some MPs who prefer jail and martyrdom rather than surrender their beliefs.

the issue with trying to control speech/thoughts as crimes is it destroys pluralism and creates dissenters seeking martyrdom.. we've been here before with the reformation.. and abortion in particular as the 11th of the 12 conclusions.. even 600 years ago it was seen as the easy route to mask the breaking of vows..

these things simply don't vanish from societies because an establishment wants it to.. its why we risk facing a reformation of our own and the shift going from not believers to believers in what appears to be 300 to 500 year cycles....

a reply to: andy06shake

These things always work the same if you protest in front of a bank or an abortion clinic isn't that big of a diffrence...

a reply to: Terpene

It's the specific charge that I'm interested in, do you know what that is?

One of the reasons i ask is that it appears that as part of the bail conditions she is also banned from praying publicly in other areas besides the abortion clinic which would seem to qualify as rather draconian.

a reply to: nickyw

the establishment and police stepping into thought crime territory

No they didn't... She probably ignored a ban, she will not get a fine for her believes just for breaking the laws...

it sucks I know, I've got arrested for similarly stupid things while protesting banks...

But here we are, you can feel it now, dont you? You'll get used to it

a reply to: Terpene

if the police lean to one side it creates very unbalanced policing on the one hand but on the other that imbalance creates the bridge needed for many dissenting groups especially ones on the left to join forces..

this came onto my radar not here but through the comments made by the feminist fighting the culture war many of whom are atheists but this is resonating alongside the demand to jail Jeremy Clarkson as it moves us into a space of normalising the idea of jailing political opponents for holding the wrong views.

all its doing is creating a bunch of martyrs...

a reply to: andy06shake

No, I don't know...

Draconian of course, new not so much. They just had it with them, hence the gloves are off. Make yourself a name for protesting in front of banks and watch what happens. Everybody loves money how dare you protest in front if our new churches...
if you gather enough complaints from civilians on public property, there isn't much they can't do to keep you away from these places. At that point, you just can't enter these places without making yourself guilty of a crime.

a reply to: Terpene

If you break the law, depending on the law, and your criminal history, you would be fined for breaking the law of the land and not for simply possessing a believe.

It will be a token fine she receives as long as she does not intimidate or peeve off the judge.

Might even be a fixed penalty to be honest or they will simply pen the incident and only bring it up if she were somehow to repeat the performance.

a reply to: Terpene

Seems to me that the problems arise if she is/was somehow interfering with other peoples ability to access the facility.

She says herself she has a history of doing things like this.

Chances are that if there is any CCTV evidence, which there may be, given the type of place in question, it may shine a light or explain the reasoning behind Police charging the lady.

a reply to: andy06shake

yet its all feeding into that idea as we see with Clarkson that jailing people for their beliefs should be normal..

its not where a plural society should be going but it is where we are heading..

the issue is the police keep creating space for martyrs.. at this point i can't help but think the police are the worst culprits for stoking tensions..

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Maxmars

"It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind," Vaughan-Spruce said following her arrest.

What did the Police charge her with specifically?

Four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) - they'd been blocking people gaining access to the clinic and had verbal and physical altercations with local residents for roughly nine years before the order was put in place.

Birmingham Mail

Calls to end years of anti-abortion protest outside clinic

a reply to: nickyw

Seems to me it could not have went better for the Woman in question PR wise anyroad.

She basically used the daft arsed zero tolerance crime policy Police choose to implement and enforce to her own advantage.

Police just gave her a bigger soap box to preach from nickyw far as i can establish.

Fun fact mate most Police don't even understand the law of the land that they are their to uphold in the entirety.

And they would be a lot better served to remember that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

a reply to: bastion

Cheers for the answer and clarification bastion.

In Scotland sounds like she would have been charged with Breach of the Peace.

If you manage to accumulate to many of those charges over a period of time you can get 6 months up here if the sheriff had a bad weekend.

a reply to: andy06shake


I'm not sure, sounds like a real issue, when buffer zones are made around abortion clinics. People feel uncomfortable enough already going there, making it a big political thing certainly doesn't help.

My best guess she has history that got her a ban...
Those are the wildest and biggest protest I've seen outside Antifa, and I've seen them in any colors.
So that bunch isn't really known to be silently standing there. Maybe as a last resort?
No one knows I've got a ban in zone1 from our last action, let's go there and do nothing and get arrested, then I can play victim.

So these buffer zones??? get a 1000 people praying there silently, and the pressure on the individual in question is back. So where do you draw the line? not more than 3 in a group? Or just anyone who get complained about? The buffer are there to protect those that want to access that service from being bombarded by political zealots. If they feel bombarded that should be enough.

a reply to: Terpene

Yeh i think you may be calling it with her playing the victim part.

Thing is if she is trying to play the system a short sharp shock may indeed be in order.

a reply to: bastion

I'm not here to try her case. But each instance cited was when the abortion clinic was closed.

Who was she harassing?

You speak of her as a person of notoriety. How would we, as consumers of news in another country know that?

Also, you seem to intimate that these charges came from her defiance of protection order, but it appears the order is not a provision of standing silently in a particular place.

Frankly, I sense a bias which defies casual acceptance.

a reply to: nickyw

Christians are not exempt from breaking the law, and their belive should not matter one iota. If you get enough people to complain about you, you can be removed from public places.
Works for the beggar, the street musician and should work for the believer. You're street performance is as short-lived as the publics appreciation of it. Consider yourself lucky having had that time where society appreciated them...