A UK pastor is facing criminal charges and fines after he preached on John 3:16 near an abortion clinic. 77-year-old Pastor Clive Johnston delivered his sermon outside on a small patch of grass July 2024 near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Ireland. Around 12 people attended the service, with a wooden cross set up for worshippers.

The hospital offers abortion services, so when two officers approached Johnston, they warned him that he was violating the country’s barrier laws. The laws prohibit anyone form trying to “influence” people accessing abortion. It is also alleged that Johnston failed to leave the area when asked to do so by police. Johnston’s sermon didn’t mention abortion at all, nor did he have any signage against abortion. Johnston was never arrested either. Regardless, he was notified of prosecution by summons and now faces two counts of violating the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act. The law makes it a criminal offense for patrons to be “impeded, recorded, influenced or to be caused harassment, alarm or distress” within so-called buffer zones around hospitals and abortion clinics.

Johnston is a grandfather of 7 and a retired pastor from Strabane. He has never been in trouble with the law but if convicted, he would now have a criminal record and could be forced to pay a fine up to $3,300. Buffer zone cases like Johnston’s have become an international concern, with some Christians like Adam Smith-Connor being arrested for simply praying outside an abortion clinic. The Trump administration has been monitoring such cases for violations of free speech and religious liberty. “The U.K.’s persecution of silent prayer represents not only an egregious violation of the fundamental right to free speech and religious liberty, but also a concerning departure from the shared values that ought to underpin U.S.-U.K. relations,” a State Department spokesman said of Johnston’s case.

Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute, which is supporting Johnston, criticized such laws. “Should a law designed to stop abortion protests be used to criminalise gospel preaching? John 3:16 is a wonderful, famous verse and everyone knows it says nothing about abortion,” he said in a statement. He went on to add that, “Christians are pro-life. But preaching the good news about Christ is not the same thing as protesting against abortion. The Police and the Public Prosecution Service are overstepping the mark.”