‘JOHN 3:16 IS NOW A CRIME?’: 78-YEAR-OLD PASTOR CONVICTED FOR PREACHING BIBLE VERSE OUTSIDE HOSPITAL—NOW HE’S FIGHTING BACK

In a ruling that free speech advocates are calling “chilling” and “unthinkable,” a 78-year-old retired pastor in Northern Ireland has been convicted and fined for doing what Christians have done for two millennia: reading John 3:16 in public. Clive Johnston, a soft-spoken grandfather, was found guilty of two charges of “influencing” people on abortion under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act after he stood within 328 feet of Causeway Hospital during an open-air service in 2024. The problem? His sermon never once mentioned abortion. Instead, Johnston—standing quietly with a Bible—proclaimed the hope of Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Nevertheless, authorities fined him $604 and handed down a criminal conviction, effectively ruling that his peaceful Gospel witness violated a buffer zone designed to protect abortion access.

Now, Johnston is appealing, and his case is rapidly becoming a global flashpoint for religious freedom. “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,” Johnston said. His attorney argues that the law—intended to prevent harassment outside abortion clinics—has been stretched to criminalize basic Christian witness, even when no protest occurs and no patient is approached. “If this conviction is allowed to stand, it will signal that basic Christian witness and public expressions of faith can be criminalized simply because they take place in the wrong location,” Johnston added. “That should concern every person who values freedom of religion and freedom of expression, regardless of their views on abortion.” As the appeal moves forward, the question hanging in the air is both simple and terrifying: In a West that once enshrined religious liberty, can you still quote John 3:16 on a public sidewalk—or does the verse itself now require a permit?