Abortion buffer challenge

A local authority-imposed abortion buffer zone in an area that includes private homes has been challenged in the High Court.

Separately, a pro-life campaigner was given a fine by police after being questioned outside a Birmingham abortion clinic (the council has said it will not pursue the fine).

A video circulating online shows a female police officer questioning Isabel Vaughan-Spruce while referring to a document. One of the questions was: ‘Are you here to pray for the lives of unborn children?’ to which Vaughan-Spruce said she was not. She told the officer she was not there to protest, but was asked to move – and then told she was being given a fixed penalty notice (FPN).