Retired pastor Clive Johnston has been convicted on two charges under the Abortion Services Act in Northern Ireland for the crime of preaching on John 3:16 at the edge of a buffer zone across from Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital, which commits abortions, in 2025. Johnston called it a “dark day for Christian freedom.”
John 3:16 reads: “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.”
On May 7, a district judge at the Coleraine Magistrates Court found the former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland guilty. The Christian Institute, which is supporting him, noted that Johnston “now faces a criminal record and £450 in fines,” and that he will likely appeal his conviction.
Johnston, a 78-year-old grandfather, delivered the open-air sermon in July 2025. He did not mention abortion in his message, which focused exclusively on the Gospel. There were also no pro-life signs present during the Sunday morning event attended by about a dozen people.
He was prosecuted on two charges under the 2023 Abortion Services Act for the sermon, which makes it criminal for people to be “impeded, recorded, influenced or to be caused harassment, alarm, or distress” within the 100-150-meter zones (328-492 feet) around abortion facilities or hospitals that provide abortions.
“We held a small, open air Sunday service near a hospital,” Johnston said after his conviction. “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.”
“If someone is out there causing trouble, stirring up violence, harassing or verbally attacking people, then, absolutely, go ahead and prosecute them,” he continued. “But I wasn’t doing any of those things as the police video shows and as everyone involved in this case accepts. So we are going to go away now and discuss what to do next with our legal team. I am obviously keen to find out what options there might be for me to appeal.”
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, there have been multiple arrests in the U.K. over alleged violations of the buffer zones, including 75-year-old grandmother Rose Docherty in September 2025 who had had previous charges against her dropped. The U.S. State Department has specifically cited these arrests as evidence of the “human rights situation in the U.K.” worsening in 2025, with the White House intervening to support 64-year-old Livia Tossci-Bolt, who was arrested outside a clinic in April 2025.
The White House also sent U.S. diplomats to interview five arrestees last year and has said it is monitoring the situation in the U.K.
“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 criminalize gospel preaching,” said Ciarán Kelly, director of The Christian Institute. “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.”