(LifeSiteNews) — 21 Spanish pro-life activists have been acquitted after they were arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic.

In a December 9 ruling published by local media outlet La Vanguardia, Judge Beatriz Román of the Criminal Court of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, released 21 local pro-lifers, ruling that praying outside an abortion clinic does not constitute harassment.

“There is no doubt that the defendants did nothing more than exercise their right to free assembly, choosing a location near a clinic where abortions are performed, understanding that expressing their demands in that place and in the manner they did was the most appropriate way for the message they wished to convey – praying for life and offering their help – to reach its primary recipients directly,” the ruling stated.

“All of this was communicated to the competent authority, and the defendants conducted themselves at all times in an exemplary, peaceful manner,” it continued.

The pro-lifers were arrested in 2022 after they partook in a 40 Days for Life prayer chain outside the Askabide clinic in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The 21 pro-lifers, 12 women and nine men, prayed quietly outside the abortion clinic, holding signs reading “You are not alone,” “We are praying for you,” and “40 Days for Life.”

During their November 2025 trial, abortion advocates alleged that the pro-lifers harassed women seeking abortion. The abortion advocates sought five months’ imprisonment for each defendant, with an alternate sentence of 75 days of community service.

Additionally, the abortion clinic demanded 20,000 euros ($23,250) in compensation, 10,000 for the clinic and another 10,000 for clinic manager Igor Elberdin.

“It was constant, all day long,” Elberdin alleged. “They show you signs, point at you, stare at you, pray aloud, and they even took photos of us. They use prayers to say awful things. The gatherings prevented the clinic from functioning properly.”

“The women need to be able to enter peacefully, and their aim was to intimidate them, especially since they come from difficult situations,” he continued.

However, the abortion activists were unable to provide any evidence to support their claims. Instead, police described the gatherings as “peaceful.”

As a result, the judge ruled that “there is no evidence that any person was approached, confronted or assaulted, nor that human chains were formed preventing the passage of women or workers or cutting off supplies to the clinic, nor that the demonstrators made threatening gestures or proclaimed threatening slogans.”

The case marks a landmark victory for Spanish pro-lifers after socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s government amended the Spanish Penal Code in 2022 to criminalize impeding or harassing women seeking abortions.

The court’s decision acknowledged that the pro-life activism took place within 15 or 30 meters of the clinic but ruled that it did not contradict the penal code as the activism was prayerful and non-disruptive.