A retired pastor has thanked his worldwide supporters for standing by him as he faces prosecution for preaching in an abortion buffer zone.
Clive Johnston, 76, delivered a sermon to a small group of individuals within the buffer zone around Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Northern Ireland in July of last yr.
A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland said of the case, “Following careful consideration of all of the available evidence in a police investigation file, a call to prosecute a person for one count of allegedly doing an act in a secure access zone contrary to the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 and one count of failing to comply with a direction under the identical Act issued on thirteenth February 2024.”
While officially retired, Pastor Johnston still preaches at his local church. According to News Letter, he said, “I even have had immense support from across the grassroots evangelical community but in addition from the Catholic community today … To be honest, it has been such an encouragement. I even have had people contacting me to supply their support from England, America, Spain, Romania and Croatia.”
Pastor Johnston confirmed that his legal fight shall be taken on by The Christian Institute and added that the deputy leader of Aontú, Gemma Brolly, had been in contact to supply her support.
Aontú is a comparatively recent political party in each Northern and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 2019 by former members of Sinn Féin who objected to the party’s drift towards social liberalism and is staunchly anti-abortion.
Buffer zones around abortion clinics were introduced in Northern Ireland in 2023 to forestall “harassment” of those searching for abortions from protestors.
US Vice-President JD Vance recently took issue with abortion buffer zones in Scotland. He claimed that folks whose houses were throughout the zones were warned that personal prayer of their homes may very well be considered a breach of the law, something the Scottish government has denied.
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