Action of the Week, March 1, 2026

Never Underestimate the Power of Prayer

The UK government has decided to go after prayer.

The government and police are frustrated by the spiritual persistence of charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and others like her who understand the power of prayer. Vaughan-Spruce has been peacefully and silently praying in the same public area outside an abortion center for two decades, and in late 2022, police decided to make an example of her by arresting her. The facility was closed at the time.

After a court acquitted her, police rearrested her a few weeks later, with the police officer openly telling her that her “offense” was prayer. After she was again acquitted, she challenged both arrests as unlawful and was awarded £13,000.

But the UK state wasn’t done with her. Apparently deciding it needed to tighten its dragnet, the government passed Public Order Act 2023, which entered into force in October 2024 and, among other features, introduced 150-meter “buffer zones” around abortion facilities.

With the Act in place, police returned to criminally charge Vaughan-Spruce in late 2025 for “standing outside” the abortion center. It is the first time the Act has been put to the test for this purpose. Vaughan-Spruce pleaded not guilty on January 29 and will go to trial in October.

ADF International, which is providing her legal defense, argues that the Act “does not mention mere presence, standing or silently praying in a ‘buffer zone’ as offences.” Moreover, the Crown’s own guidance “stipulates that silent prayer on its own is not enough to meet the threshold of criminality.”

Vaughan-Spruce says,

“I’ve simply … silently prayed—meaning my thoughts were turned towards God…. Yet I’m being treated like a criminal…. Standing is not a crime, silence is not a crime, thinking is not a crime.”

In April 2025, another UK citizen opposed to abortion, Livia Tossici-Bolt, was given a two-year conditional discharge and fined £20,000 after holding a sign outside a clinic’s buffer zone that said, “here to talk, if you want.”

At Solari, we want to thank the UK police force and government for acknowledging the power of prayer and its ability to change the course of events, including at great distance. It is another reminder that prayer can move mountains—and anyone can do it!