January 29, 2026
Tom Edwards
A woman has pleaded not guilty to a public order offence after being accused of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, 48, from Malvern in Worcestershire, is the first person in England and Wales to be charged under new "buffer zone" legislation which came into force in October 2024 and restricts some activities near abortion facilities.
Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, abortion is illegal in 13 US states. New Mexico has become the nearest place for many women to terminate a pregnancy — if they can get past the religious activists on a mission to change their minds
George Grylls
Friday January 16 2026
Haley Nathan, 19, writes down the details of women’s cars on a clipboard outside an abortion clinic in New Mexico, braced for the day ahead. New Mexico is the closest option for any Texan woman to receive an abortion since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022.
She’s frequently yelled at, or shown the middle finger. “I try not to let it bother me because it’s gonna affect my performance on the sidewalk,” says Nathan, a young intern, fixated on the clinic’s door as she prepares herself for the hostility coming her way. “I like to say it’s not me who’s doing the work. It’s God in me. I step out, God steps in.”
Continued: https://archive.is/6FX9Y
(https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/abortion-roe-v-wade-h2j7j9lm9)
By The Newsroom
4th Jan 2026
A woman currently appealing a conviction for conducting an illegal protest inside a hospital’s ‘safe access zone’ is due to appear in court on fresh charges.
Claire Brennan is due to appear in Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday to be charged with three offences of “doing an act inside a safe access zone” on three specific dates in September, October and November last year.
Friday, 19 December 2025
Plans to create legally mandated buffer zones around abortion clinics to protect visitors from protesters have been halted after last-minute opposition from BBB Vice Prime Minister Mona Keijzer, sources told RTL. The move affects proposals by ministers for Interior and Kingdom Relations, Rijkaart (BBB), and Justice and Security, Van Oosten (VVD).
The proposal, submitted last Friday to the ministerial council, aimed to establish zones around clinics where demonstrations would be restricted. “Women must be guaranteed a quiet passage to an abortion clinic,” the ministers wrote in an unpublished letter seen by RTL. Currently, such protections depend on decisions by individual mayors.
Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/19/minister-blocks-plan-protest-buffer-zones-around-abortion-clinics
11 December 2025
Police in Coleraine have charged a woman in her 50s under the Abortion Services (SAZ) Act with three counts of doing an act in a Safe Access Zone.
The charges relate to incidents at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine between Wednesday 3rd September and Wednesday, 19th November.
She is due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 5th January. As is procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Mayors can’t ban people from demonstrating at abortion clinics, but they can impose restrictions to prevent disorder, the Council of State ruled in four cases on Wednesday. For example, mayors can prohibit protests directly in front of the clinic’s entrance, as long as the location where demonstrators are permitted is within sight and hearing distance from the clinic, the Council of State said.
Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State issued rulings on four demonstrations at abortion clinics - one in Groningen, one in Amsterdam, and two in Heemstede. In all four cases, the mayor banned protesters from demonstrating directly in front of the clinic’s entrance to prevent disorder. The protesters disagreed with this.
Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/03/mayors-cant-ban-protests-abortion-clinics-can-set-limits-council-state
Catholic charity worker says someone’s thoughts ‘cannot possibly be a crime’ and her ‘punishment has clearly been the process’
Martin Evans
30 November 2025
Police and prosecutors are “frozen with indecision” over whether to charge a woman for silently praying near an abortion clinic, campaigners have claimed.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Catholic charity worker, is being investigated by West Midlands Police for allegedly breaching a new buffer-zone law intended to prevent people protesting near abortion centres.
Continued: https://archive.is/7NIzF
(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/30/police-no-decide-anti-abortion-campaigner-charged/)
26 NOV 2025
Impact International
The decision to classify NHS‑funded abortions as a “Human Rights” violation marks a dramatic shift in how Washington uses its flagship Human Rights reporting to judge allied domestic healthcare systems. Through the annual country report, the US now treats “state‑sponsored” abortion, including routine NHS care in England and Wales, as a breach on par with other alleged abuses, transforming a settled area of UK health Policy into evidence of government wrongdoing. At the heart of this move is an attempt to recast abortion, along with other social questions, as a core Human Rights battleground rather than a matter of domestic legislative compromise.
Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Utrecht Mayor Sharon Dijksma is calling on the Dutch government to introduce national legislation banning anti-abortion protests directly in front of clinics, after the highest administrative court allowed activists to demonstrate at the doors of a Utrecht clinic.
According to NOS, the ruling is related to the Christian group Jezus Leeft, which the court allowed to protest directly outside the clinic with slogans such as “abortion is murder.” Utrecht had attempted to enforce a buffer zone but was overruled.
Continued: https://nltimes.nl/2025/09/16/utrecht-mayor-presses-law-block-anti-abortion-protests-clinic-doors
Over half of speakers on London’s March for Life’s programme have links with US Christian right group Alliance Defending Freedom.
By Alice McCool
Sep 5, 2025
A major anti-abortion march taking place in London this week is being heavily influenced by US Christian right group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), raising concerns about the import of anti-gender fundamentalism to the UK.
Good Law Project can reveal that over half of the speakers in London’s March for Life 2025 itinerary have direct links to ADF, an Arizona-based Christian legal organisation that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an “anti-LGBTQ+ hate group”.
Continued: https://goodlawproject.org/london-anti-abortion-march-fuelled-by-us-hate-group/
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn