Praying for Persecution: How Anti-Abortion Activists are Waging a Disinformation Campaign in Scotland

After a long campaign spearheaded by Back Off Scotland, Scotland has this year passed landmark legislation making it illegal for anti-abortion activists to intimidate and harass patients and staff outside healthcare settings. The bill enjoyed tremendous popularity, sailing through Parliament with a landslide of cross-party support.

However, some religious organisations and right-leaning news outlets are eager to frame this legislation as an ‘Orwellian’ ‘prayer ban’ and a form of Christian persecution. So, what is really going on?

Residents in Scotland who live within a designated buffer zone have received a letter explaining the law, which primarily applies to public areas but could extend to private residences if anti-abortion activities ‘could be an offence if they can be seen or heard within the Zone and are done intentionally or recklessly.’

Contrary to what anti-abortion organisations would like you to believe, this does not mean that police will be knocking on doors to inquire about what people are praying about in their living rooms. It means that public consultation revealed some groups using tactics like voice amplification systems to ensure that clinic patients and staff could hear them from outside.

Essentially, if your home falls within the buffer zone, you cannot attempt to hand any patients anti-abortion leaflets or shout anti-abortion rhetoric at them through your window. This is akin to not being allowed to shout racist abuse at passers-by, even if you are ‘in your own home’. You are free to say and think whatever you like in your home, and no reasonable person would test these boundaries or take things to extremes.

Yet, anti-abortion activists do take things to extremes, as we’ve seen in England with local buffer zones, and we will undoubtedly witness similar attempts in Scotland.

One seemingly innocent Christian who was arrested for merely praying in her head is Isabel Vaughn Spruce, described as a ‘charity worker’. Footage released by the Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF UK) shows her arrest, and the organisation’s own footage provides some telling context. In the video (because don’t silent prayers always involve someone filming you?), she is speaking to a police officer who asks her:

“Why here? I know you don’t live nearby.”  

Isabel responds, “But this is an abortion centre.”  

“I’ll ask you once more: will you voluntarily come with us now to the police station for me to ask you some questions about today and other days where there are allegations that you’ve broken the public space protection order?”  

Isabel replies, “If I’ve got a choice, then no.”  

Isabel is then arrested, which appears to have been her objective all along. Incidentally, the ADF USA is categorised by the Southern Poverty Law Centre as an ‘extremist hate group’. They also claim credit for overturning Roe v Wade and are engaged in various legal battles against contraception and LGBT rights in multiple states and counties.

In the podcast ‘About Abortion with Dave Brennan’, in an episode titled ‘Kill the Babies, Lock up the Catholics: Welby on Buffer Zones’, he states, “Isabel’s arrest was very carefully planned and, uh, you know, timed.” He adds, “She’s a friend of ours; she’s one of the leaders of March for Life. We work together on a few things.” He later mentions that the CPS wanted to drop charges but insists, “I understand that once these proceedings have commenced, it is your legal right to insist that they are followed through to the end. You can insist, ‘No, I do want to go to court; let’s see this through,’ and I believe that is their intention. And rightly so, because we’ve got to test these things.”

Helen continues, “So all credit to Isabel and her team for, you know, carefully planning this to have all the facts lined up, and you know they’ve got a really strong case.”

Another anti-abortion activist, who the Telegraph describes as an ‘army veteran’ defending ‘the right to silent prayer’, is Adam Connor Smith. He too just happened to stop outside an abortion clinic for a silent prayer, only to be caught by the police. Of course, there is more to this than meets the eye. A quick Google search will reveal Adam’s interview with the 40 Days for Life podcast in 2020, titled ‘From Atheist Abortion Worker to Leading a Vigil’. 40 Days for Life is the Texan-based organisation that orchestrates most of the UK’s anti-abortion protests outside hospitals. In the podcast, Adam reveals that his ex-partner had an early abortion, and he bizarrely claims that he knows, due to a dream, that the abortion was actually a boy called Jacob. This is apparently, the ‘dead son’ for whom Adam claims to be praying when approached by police in ADF footage.

In the podcast, Adam directs listeners to his YouTube account, 40 Days for Life Southampton (curiously a 45-minute drive away from the clinic he was praying outside, likely because this clinic has a PSPO). Among many peculiar videos is one titled ‘Is Abortion Satanic?’ In this video, Adam stands outside a clinic in Southampton, stating that he and his team pray for the ‘conversion’ of the clinic staff. He declares, “Abortion, baby killing, is Satan’s most deadly weapon in the world.” His menacing demeanour starkly contrasts with the media’s portrayal of the meek man with his head bowed in prayer. I shudder at the thought of a vulnerable girl having to pass this man to attend an appointment.

It is evident that there is an organised and tight-knit community of anti-abortion activists who are using Scotland as a platform to instil fear in the hope of undermining the UK buffer zone amendment, or at least watering it down sufficiently for their intimidation tactics to continue unimpeded.

On the day the Scottish buffer zone laws were finally set to be enforced, the anti-abortion organisation SPUC donned American prison-style orange jumpsuits to protest outside the Scottish Parliament. Apart from being an amusing sight, it was refreshing to see them finally protesting in an appropriate area. The irony seemed lost on them that they were exercising their legal rights to assembly, protest, and free speech—even if they felt the need to bring handcuffs … that they had to put on themselves.