The United Kingdom gave up on protecting any real semblance of freedom years ago. It has become an authoritarian state, to the point that it will prosecute a Christian preacher for the crime of being too close to an abortion “safe access zone.”

Clive Johnston, a 77-year-old preacher, is standing trial for allegedly violating a Northern Ireland law about influencing women away from getting an abortion. Johnston had set himself up across the street from Causeway Hospital to preach, though he notably did not say or display anything related to abortion at all. Johnston sang, read Bible verses, and told his life story, and for that he was arrested and is facing a punishment from the state for “influencing” someone seeking an abortion.