Retired Pastor in Northern Ireland Faces Criminal Charges for ‘Open-Air Service’ Outside a Hospital That Performs Abortions
Prosecutors say Clive Johnston held a ‘protest with the intent of or being reckless as to whether it had the effect of influencing a protected person.’
A retired Baptist pastor, Clive Johnston, is facing criminal charges in Northern Ireland for allegedly holding an “open-air Sunday service” on the “fringes” of a buffer zone of a hospital where abortions are performed.
Mr. Johnston, 76, held the service on July 7, 2024, outside the Causeway Hospital at Coleraine. Prosecutors say the sermon violated the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act of 2022, which makes it a crime for individuals to be “impeded, recorded, influenced or to be caused harassment, alarm or distress” in the buffer zone outside a facility that performs abortions.
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