Brandon Scott
Pro-life protestors who were arrested in Northern Ireland last October for violating UK buffer zone laws are speaking out amidst their ongoing court battle. The protesters had their first hearing on July 29, wherein they both entered a not guilty plea.
“I believe I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Claire Brennan stated in a recent Live Action report: “If the courts find that I have and decide to convict me then we are in a very dark place indeed”.
Ms Brennan was arrested along with David Hall, last autumn for praying in an alleged buffer zone outside of Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. According to the report, police officers approached Brennan while she was praying the rosary and holding a pro-life sign that said ‘Pray to End Abortion’.
In a video of the incident, Ms Brennan stated: “Officer, you have a duty to uphold the law, I have a duty to uphold God’s law. This is where we pray. We are not committing any offences”.
The officer then told her that “in the eye of the law”, she was, in fact, committing an offence, and further accused her of “harassment, alarm, and distress”.
The officer and his colleague later arrested Ms Brennan and Hall and charged them, without a police interview, with violating the UK’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act, according to Christian Concern.