Pro-lifers are celebrating the closure of the UK's oldest abortion clinic after half a century of terminating pregnancies.

March for Life UK said that "over 30 years of persistent prayer were answered" when the Calthorpe Clinic abortion centre in Edgbaston, Birmingham, closed its doors for the last time at the end of 2019. 

The clinic was a home for the elderly until 1969, when it was turned into the first centre in the UK to exist exclusively for abortions, March for Life said.  It was being operated by Marie Stopes International at the time of its closure.

"People have been praying there for decades," said Stephanie Pyne, a Christian who has been holding peaceful vigils with other pro-life campaigners outside the clinic for nearly 30 years.

Over the last few decades, Christians of all ages and professions have prayed outside the clinic and offered assistance to women considering an abortion. 

A Catholic priest stood outside the centre every day to offer up prayers of deliverance. The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, is among those to have taken part in vigils outside the clinic. 

Welcoming news of its closure, he said: "For a number of years I have joined the 40 Days for Life group praying in Edgbaston for those affected by the issue of abortion.

"With the closure of the Edgbaston clinic it is important to continue to pray for all parents facing difficult decisions, that they will cherish God's gift of life."

The 40 Days for Life international prayer campaign ran a witness twice a year outside the clinic over the last eight years. 

March for Life said that over 100 women had been helped by the 40 Days for Life volunteers and chosen to continue with their pregnancies instead of aborting their babies. 

Christians of all denominations and some local Muslims also joined in the prayer vigils outside the clinic, and offered gifts to those witnessing there. 

40 Days for Life campaign director for Birmingham, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, said: "It really was a community effort. I became good friends with many passers-by and local residents who stopped to give a kindly word of encouragement or bring us refreshments."

She also credited prayer with bringing about the closure of the clinic.

"We have faithfully waited many years to hear this news. We are so grateful to God for letting us see the fruit of our prayers," she said. 

Calthorpe Clinic was at the centre of a damning Daily Telegraph investigation in 2012 - before it was taken over by Marie Stopes - that found evidence of one of its doctors agreeing to abortions on the basis of gender. Dr Palaniappan Rajmohan was later struck off for three months. 

Rachel Mackenzie, who had an abortion at Calthorpe before going on to become a regular prayer volunteer outside the clinic and founding the healing ministry Rachel's Vineyard for people who have had abortions, welcomed the clinic's closure.

"I am so relieved that no more children will have their lives ended here as my son once did," she said. 

Linda Hope, another woman who regretted her abortion at the clinic and joined the 40 Days for Life Birmingham campaign, said, "I want other women to know there's a better option than that pain. No one told me, so I want to be the voice that tells them."

Vaughan-Spruce recalled a remarkable incident on the last day of prayer during the 40 Days for Life campaign, when a white dove walked out of the driveway of the clinic and sat at her feet for two hours.

"I felt it was a symbol of all the pure, innocent lives which had been snuffed out there and I dared to hope it might be a sign of peace to come," she said.

"Now this place has closed it's time for us to move on to another abortion facility. While abortion is happening in our city we will never be silent."