Conviction for speech within a safe access zone

That this House notes a recent Court case in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, where a retired Baptist Pastor was convicted of speaking in July 2024 at a dual carriageway across from Causeway Hospital, which was within a Safe Access Zone; acknowledges that these zones were established for the purpose of protecting women and girls accessing abortion treatment services, information, advice and counselling, but understands that the Pastor made no reference to abortion whatever, had no anti-abortion leaflets or posters and had repeatedly indicated his message was entirely about God’s love for the world; views with extreme concern that legislation supposedly designed to deal with protests about abortion has been used to prosecute and convict a man speaking publicly about an unrelated matter; and fears that anyone speaking on any unrelated subject matter within a safe access zone can now potentially be subjected to criminal proceedings.