Man fined for standing silently outside UK abortion clinic
Sebastian Vaughan-Spruce carried no sign and remained completely silent until approached by police officers who couldn't tell him what his crime was.
A Catholic pro-life activist who was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic in Northern Ireland is vowing to continue protesting, no matter the cost.
"I cannot go against my conscience and do nothing whilst innocent babies are aborted in this country," Claire Brennan said.
Brennan and her colleague David were arrested outside the Causeway hospital in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, in October 2023. Brennan was praying and had brought a sign which called for others to pray the rosary and pray to end abortion, she said.
Brennan is being charged with holding an anti-abortion protest in a "safe access zone" protected by Northern Ireland's Abortion Services Safe Access Zones Act, passed in 2023. Brennan is also being charged with failing to comply when asked to leave the safe access zone. She has pleaded not guilty and is fighting the charges in court with the help of the Christian Legal Centre.
A pro-life activist was arrested and faces charges for allegedly violating Northern Ireland's Abortion Services Safe Access Zones Act. (iStock)
PRIEST CHARGED AFTER PRAYING OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC DECRIES CRIMINALIZATION OF THOUGHT
Brennan told Fox News Digital that she had been holding weekly prayer vigils outside abortion clinics and hospitals for the past 11 years. She and colleagues would hand out leaflets to women outside clinics, offer them money, furniture and even open up their homes if they needed a place to stay, she explained.
Brennan said the previous three abortion clinics they prayed in front of ultimately closed. She had been praying outside the Causeway Hospital for about a year before she was arrested due to the newly passed legislation.
When she first heard of the abortion zone buffer law she was in disbelief, but decided to continue her prayer vigil anyway.
"I actually didn't even believe that this could be a law that could ever be passed. Sadly, the law went ahead and passed," Brennan told Fox News Digital. "I decided that I was going to be a voice for Jesus, and I was not going to sit back and watch."
When she arrived to hold her usual prayer protest that day, law enforcement told her that she and her colleague David were breaking the law and urged them to leave the area.
"If you carry on protesting here, you will be arrested and you will be removed from here and report's going to go out," the officer tells Brennan in a video of the exchange she filmed and shared with the Christian Legal Centre.
The officer warns her that her prayer vigil is "harassing people" and they are getting "phone calls" about it.
"You're intimidating people by being here who don't agree with your point of view," he continues.
According to the Christian Legal Centre, Brennan told the officer she had a duty to uphold God's law and that she and her colleague were "not committing any offenses."
An anti-abortion protester holds a rosary and sign outside a building housing an abortion provider in Dallas, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
"You're really stubborn and ignorant, right?" the officer responds in the video. Eventually, other officers arrive and both Brennan and David are arrested.
Brennan says that since their arrest came to light, both she and David have been harassed for their activism.
David, who has a disability, has had people heckle him and come to his home to threaten him, she says, prompting him to install a full security system and seek counseling over the stress.
She also felt violated after discovering that she was secretly photographed in her own backyard by a reporter.
In spite of the troubles, Brennan says her convictions won't allow her to stay silent or stop praying.
When asked if punishment would stop her from continuing to pray outside clinics, she replied, "Absolutely not."
Brennan sees the law as discriminatory towards Christians and believes she has done nothing wrong. She said she would refuse to pay any fine imposed on her.
"It is a deeply disturbing law which tells free citizens that they will be arrested if they pray," she said in a statement ahead of her hearing last week.
"If the courts find that I have and decide to convict me, then we are in a very dark place indeed… I cannot go against my conscience and do nothing whilst innocent babies are aborted in this country. Praying is the most important thing I can do to help and I and everyone else must be free to do that, even outside of an abortion clinic. I will fight for justice and will continue to pray to end abortion for as long as it takes."
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Her case has been adjourned to October by the prosecution. If found guilty, she could face a fine or prison time for her actions, according to the Christian Legal Centre.
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