Retired pastor Clive Johnston, 78, has formally appealed his conviction under Northern Ireland’s abortion buffer zone law — a ruling that found him guilty of “influencing” abortion patients despite giving a sermon that made no mention of abortion.
Johnston was convicted on May 7 at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act 2023 for preaching near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine in July 2024. He preached on John 3:16, led hymns, and prayed within 100 metres of the hospital. No placards were displayed. No one alleged harassment, intimidation, or obstruction. District Judge Peter King found him guilty of being “reckless” as to whether his actions could influence someone accessing abortion services — marking the first prosecution in the UK for a sermon that did not reference abortion.
Johnston was fined £450 and now carries a criminal record. The U.S. Department of State has called the case an “egregious violation” of Johnston’s “fundamental rights.”
Johnston said: “This ruling sets a deeply troubling precedent. I was not protesting abortion. I was peacefully preaching the Gospel, reading from the Bible, and pointing people to the hope found in Jesus Christ. If this conviction is allowed to stand, it will signal that basic Christian witness and public expressions of faith can be criminalised simply because they take place near a location the state wishes to protect from any religious influence.”
Simon Calvert of The Christian Institute stated: “This case was never about harassment or intimidation — nobody has alleged Clive Johnston engaged in anything close to this form of behaviour. It is about whether the state can criminalise the peaceful expression of Christian faith in a public place under abortion buffer zone laws. The implications of this dangerous ruling reach far beyond one individual pastor in Northern Ireland.”
Evangelist Franklin Graham, serving on President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, called the conviction “extraordinary,” adding: “Pastor Johnston didn’t even mention abortion; he just preached the Gospel in a public space. Religious freedoms are being threatened not only in the UK, but here in the US, Canada, and around the world.”
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