Retired Pastor Convicted for Safe Zone Sermon

A retired Northern Ireland pastor was convicted Thursday in Coleraine Magistrates Court of breaching safe access zone laws around an abortion facility for delivering an open-air Gospel sermon outside Causeway Hospital. Clive Johnston, a 78-year-old former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, faces fines totaling 450 pounds plus a 15-pound offender levy and now has a criminal record.

The incident occurred on July 7 of last year, when Johnston and about a dozen others held a small Sunday morning service at the edge of a designated safe access zone near the hospital entrance in Coleraine. Police body-worn camera footage shown in court captured Johnston preaching from the Bible, including John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." He also spoke about his personal faith journey and played a ukulele. No banners, placards or references to abortion appeared during the event.

District Judge Peter King found Johnston guilty on two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act Northern Ireland 2023, which prohibits actions within 100 to 250...