UK: High Court Rules It Is Lawful to Bar Silent Prayer Vigils Inside Exclusion Zone Around Abortion Center
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Britain’s High Court of Justice has ruled it is lawful to criminalize pro-life activity, including silent prayer vigils, inside a designated exclusion zone around an abortion clinic, the UK Christian Concern organization said in a press release.The ruling was handed down by Lord Justice Warby and Justice Thornton on Dec. 15, 2023.
The case arose when Christian Concern and Livia Tossici-Bolt, a former clinical scientist who leads 40 Days for Life Bournemouth, challenged the legality of a 150-meter Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) exclusion zone established in 2022 around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England.
The PSPO itself was enacted under section 67 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, with criminal penalties for violators, Christian Concern reports. In January, an amendment to the Public Order Bill introduced “buffer zones” around abortion clinics nationwide.
Calling for judicial review of the PSPO, the plaintiffs had argued that the order “unlawfully restricted activities conducted in private spaces and that the police’s authority to remove individuals from the zone was incompatible with parliamentary powers and constituted an abuse of the [2014] Act.”
“These zones have been criticized by politicians and campaigners as harsh measures that infringe on free speech and hinder access to abortion alternatives,” Christian Concern said in its statement.
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