‘Silent prayer’ charges dropped against Roman Catholic priest

Charges have been dropped against a Roman Catholic priest who was arrested for silently praying for free speech near an abortion clinic.

Sean Gough was charged for holding a sign that said “praying for free speech”, and displaying a car sticker stating “unborn lives matter”, within a council-imposed censorship zone around an abortion centre in Birmingham. The clinic was closed at the time.

Although the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will no longer prosecute him for ‘intimidation’, it emphasised that it could pursue the charges in the future.

‘Illiberal’

Gough stated: “I pray wherever I go, inside my head, for the people around me. How can it be a crime for a priest to pray?”

He added: “It’s an issue that means a lot to me because my mum made a bold choice for life when I was a baby. I was conceived in the context of severe violence, and she found the grace and strength to fight for us both. So many people thought she should abort me, but by the grace of God, she didn’t, and we’re both so grateful for that today.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom UK, the organisation supporting Mr Gough, said: “Nobody should be criminalised for peaceful activities like praying for the state of free speech in our country, or having a simple bumper sticker on their car that expresses a belief that ‘unborn lives matter’.

“This case demonstrates the far-reaching and illiberal consequences of so-called ‘buffer zones’.”

So many people thought she should abort me, but by the grace of God, she didn’t, and we’re both so grateful for that today.

State overreach

The Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in force around the centre prohibits individuals from “engaging in any act of approval or disapproval” in relation to abortion, including “prayer or counselling”.

The Public Order Bill currently making its way through Parliament contains a clause to create censorship zones around every abortion clinic in England and Wales.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, MP Miriam Cates warned that the Bill would criminalise legitimate activities. She criticised “a blanket ban on prayer and conversation”, saying “it isn’t the role of the state to decide whether or not women wish to change their minds or to criminalise women who are lawfully offering help”.

Cates quoted a speech by Baroness Fox, who herself supports abortion, saying that a woman should be free to take a leaflet and change her mind if she realises there may be “an option of getting some practical support for pregnancy”.

Court

Earlier this month, charges were also dropped against pro-life campaigner Isabel Vaughan-Spruce who was arrested for silently praying near an abortion clinic in Birmingham.

The Director of March for Life UK was searched and arrested after the police received a complaint that she might be praying in a censorship zone.

Although the CPS has now dropped the case against her, it threatened that the charges “may well start again” if further evidence emerges. Miss Vaughan-Spruce is pursuing a verdict in court later this week.