Pastor guilty of conducting illegal abortion protest within 'safe access zone'
- On Thursday, District Judge Peter King convicted 78-year-old retired pastor Clive Johnston of two charges under the Abortion Services Act for holding an open-air service near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
- The 2023 legislation prohibits 'influencing' or 'impeding' people within 100 meters of abortion facilities; Johnston maintained he preached the gospel without mentioning abortion.
- Finding Johnston 'reckless' regarding influence on potential clinic visitors, King noted the defendant deliberately ignored a police officer's command to leave the protected area to test the law's limits.
- Johnston plans to appeal the conviction with support from The Christian Institute, facing a criminal record and £450 in fines after calling the ruling a 'dark day for Christian freedom.'
- This conviction sets a precedent for criminalizing religious expression near clinics even when speech is unrelated to abortion, raising concerns about civil liberties and freedom of speech across the UK.
15 Articles
15 Articles
‘Buffer zone’ violation: Christian pastor fined for preaching John 3:16 * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh
Source link A retired Christian pastor has been convicted of, and fined about $500 for, preaching during an open-air service in the United Kingdom. His subject wasn’t abortion, and he didn’t mention abortion, but because the service was inside an abortion “Safe Access Zone” near Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital, his speech was punished by the government. The
Pastor found guilty of violating U.K. speech laws for preaching John 3:16 sermon near hospital
The United Kingdom, which has been cracking down on speech for years, dealt free speech another blow on Thursday when a district judge found Clive Johnston, a retired Northern Irish pastor, guilty of preaching John 3:16 in public. The 78-year-old was convicted of two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zone) Act (Northern Ireland) for holding an open-air service near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine in 2024. This law makes it a crime …
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