NI Court Prosecutes Man and Woman for Praying in Coleraine "Buffer Zone"
In Northern Ireland, a court is set to rule on the case of a woman and a man who were arrested for praying inside an abortion "buffer zone" in October 2023. If found guilty in the current hearing, the woman who pleaded not guilty faces up to six months in prison. The police arrested them without any prior complaints about their presence on the street.
In October 2023, Claire Brennan, together with her colleague David Hall, was arrested outside Causeway Hospital in Coleraine where she had been reciting The Lord's Prayer and holding a sign that said 'Pray to End Abortion'. Mrs Brennan told the officers that she believed it was her moral duty to pray there. Video footage of the incident show one of the officers telling Mrs Brennan that she is "really stubborn and ignorant" for breaking the law by refusing to move on.
According to Christian Legal Centre, who has taken up the case, Mrs Brennan and Mr Hall had not encountered or spoken to anyone other than the police officers during the whole incident. Mrs Brennan now faces being fined or six months imprisonment if found guilty of breaching the ‘safe access zones’ legislation and praying ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.
This is the first case of its kind since the so-called "Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023" received Royal Assent on 6 February 2023. The law finds anyone guilty who performs an action in these zones "with the intent of, or reckless as to whether it has the effect of influencing a protected person, whether directly or indirectly".
This extremely vague wording, criminalising any behaviour which might influence another person, even indirectly and unintentionally, has led to severe criticism of religious freedom organisations. In England, a similar legislation has even led to arrests of people who prayed silently in the zones, without displaying any signs. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned these incidents as religious freedom violations in its annual report.
Ahead of the hearing, Mrs Brennan said it was "deeply disturbing" that the law "tells free citizens that they will be arrested if they pray". "The legislation discriminates against Christian beliefs and their expression. If we are not free to express prayer against abortion outside of a clinic without being criminalised, then none of us are free," she added.
Sources: Christian Concern, Christianity Today, Gript
Image: Video Footage (YouTube)
Additional Sources: Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023