Pastor Convicted of Preaching Near Abortion Clinic: “Dark Day For Christian Freedom”

A retired Baptist pastor was convicted Thursday of preaching near an abortion center, in an egregious case of violation of free speech rights.

The pastor was convicted of breaching a so-called buffer zone outside an abortion clinic after he led a small open-air Sunday service preaching the Gospel near a Northern Ireland hospital that kills babies in abortions.

Clive Johnston, 77, was found guilty in Coleraine Magistrates’ Court of violating Northern Ireland’s Safe Access Zones law and of failing to leave the area when directed by police. District Judge Peter King imposed a £450 fine.

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The conviction stems from a July 7, 2024, open-air service Johnston held within the much-disputed buffer zone near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. The former president of the Irish Association of Baptist Churches preached from the Bible verse John 3:16, led hymns on a ukulele with about a dozen people, and displayed a wooden cross.

Court testimony and police video confirmed there were no banners, no placards and no mention whatsoever of abortion during the service.

Judge King accepted that Johnston made no reference to abortion but ruled that the pastor intended for his message to influence listeners, directly or indirectly, to reject abortion and had deliberately tested the buffer zone law.

After the verdict, Johnston described the ruling as a serious blow to religious liberty.

“This is a dark day for Christian freedom,” Johnston said. “We held a small, open air Sunday service near a hospital. We made no reference whatsoever to the issue of abortion. And yet the buffer zones law is so broad that holding a Sunday service has been found to be a criminal offence. And at 78 years of age I find myself, for the first time, convicted of a crime.”

Johnston added that the law should target actual harassment or violence, not peaceful gospel preaching.

“I know it was an unusual place to hold an open-air service but that was the point: There shouldn’t be any public spaces in Northern Ireland where you can be prosecuted and convicted simply for preaching the gospel,” he said. “If someone is out there causing trouble, stirring up violence, harassing or verbally attacking people, then, absolutely, go ahead and prosecute them. But I wasn’t doing any of those things as the police video shows and as everyone involved in this case accepts.”

The case has drawn criticism from religious liberty advocates who argue the 2022 Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act has been applied too broadly, criminalizing protected speech.

Ciarán Kelly, director of The Christian Institute, which supported Johnston, called the conviction “creeping censorship.”

“Despite assurances to the contrary when this legislation was being considered, we now see that an already controversial and deeply unjust law has now been selectively applied to criminalise gospel preaching,” Kelly said. “This is creeping censorship. If the ruling stands it will represent a shocking new restriction on freedom of religion and freedom of speech so we will be helping Clive to consider the options for appeal.”

Johnston indicated he plans to consult his legal team about a possible appeal.

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