A professional-life volunteer who was arrested in England over silent prayer has warned against Scottish laws that proposes bringing in abortion clinic buffer zones nationwide.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce gave her testimony to the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee by which she shared her experience of being arrest inside an abortion clinic buffer zone in Birmingham last 12 months.
She was charged with “engaging in an act that’s intimidating to service users” after telling officers that she “is likely to be praying inside [her] head”.
She was arrested and charged despite the clinic being closed on the time but was later fully acquitted at Birmingham Magistrates Court after the prosecution was unable to supply evidence of her thoughts.
Addressing the committee, Vaughan-Spruce said she feared “thoughtcrime” and similar arrests will change into a reality in Scotland if the laws is passed. She called on parliamentarians to advertise tolerance, not censorship.
“After having to clear my name in court I used to be rearrested two weeks later being told ‘my prayers were an offence’. I’m concerned that it will find yourself happening in Scotland. Nobody needs to be punished for a ‘thoughtcrime’ – yet this proposed laws could easily allow that to occur,” she said.Â
She told the committee that the buffer zone had “created an enormous amount of division” in the realm and that many locals “at the moment are fearful to share their beliefs with their neighbours”.
“The community has change into polarised and the buffer zone has fostered intolerance,” she said.Â
“I wholly recommend that the Scottish government protect freedom of thought and of speech in Scotland, and promote tolerance slightly than censorship.”
The committee also heard from Alina Dulgheriu, a mother who received help with an unplanned pregnancy from pro-life volunteers outside an abortion clinic. She now runs a network for girls who’ve received similar help called Be Here For Me.
Dulgheriu said that pro-life volunteers offer “much-needed” support to vulnerable women.
“I didn’t want an abortion but I used to be abandoned by my partner, my friends and society. My financial situation on the time would have made raising a toddler very difficult,” she said.
“Thanks to the assistance I used to be offered by a bunch outside of a clinic before my appointment, my daughter is here today. Stopping people from offering much-needed services and resources for girls in my situation is incorrect. Let them help.”
She went on to say that making buffer zones law would deprive women of access to potentially “life-changing information – especially when facing one of the crucial difficult decision of their lives that might have lasting ramifications on their mental and physical health”.
“Removing the choice to receive help to maintain a toddler in case we feel offended is deeply patronising and assumes that woman cannot make a choice for ourselves or that we’d select the incorrect option,” she said.Â
“My case is just not a one-off. There are many lots of of ladies similar to me who’ve benefitted from this support. Yet we’re all too often ignored.”
Lois McLatchie Miller, spokesperson for the Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF) in Scotland, said that the Bill is “one of the crucial extensive crackdowns on pro-life thought and speech we have seen”.
“As drafted, it could even ban prayer and peaceful pro-life speech inside homes in the event that they are situated sufficiently near an abortion facility,” she said.
“The proposal would also allow the 150m distance of the buffer zone to be expanded by local authorities to an infinite extent.
“It is important that the parliament take heed of the stories of Alina and Isabel, and uphold their duty to guard freedom of thought, offers of help, and consensual conversation.”
