{"id":65604,"date":"2015-06-30T13:15:34","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T17:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=65604"},"modified":"2015-06-30T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T18:24:53","slug":"irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish pro-life leader wins appeal against harassment conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Bernadette Smyth, the leader of Northern Ireland pro-life organization Precious Life, has won her appeal on a conviction of harassing former abortion clinic director and Northern Ireland assembly member Dawn Purvis, the BBC reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Claiming she \u201cwas frightened\u201d and was \u201ccaus[ed] a lot of angst\u201d by pro-life protestors outside her Belfast abortion clinic in January and February 2014, Purvis pressed harassment charges against Smyth for stopping and questioning people about abortion outside the facility.<\/p>\n

In December, Smyth was convicted and sentenced to a fine, 100 hours of community service, and a restraining order preventing her from coming within 20 yards of the abortion clinic, even though solicitor Aiden Carlin contended<\/a> that Smyth, his client, neither used \u201cbad language\u201d nor made \u201cany attempt to make contact with Dawn Purvis,\u201d and that Purvis was the one who \u201capproached Bernadette Smyth\u2019s personal space on both occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, a judge agreed, throwing out the conviction on the grounds that the evidence did not warrant it. Smyth no longer has to worry about the fine or community service, though a decision whether to invalidate the restraining order is still pending.<\/p>\n

Live Action News previously<\/a> reported on Bernadette Smyth\u2019s pro-life advocacy in 2013. \u201cWe must raise up a banner of prayer across the nation,\u201d she then told a rally of Irish men and women committed to upholding the constitution\u2019s protection of human life. \u201cWe are a people that will not accept a bill that allows our children to be killed. We must storm heaven at this time. We need a revolution in prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bernadette Smyth, the leader of Northern Ireland pro-life organization Precious Life, has won her appeal on a conviction of harassing former abortion clinic director and Northern Ireland assembly member Dawn Purvis, the BBC reports. Claiming she \u201cwas frightened\u201d and was \u201ccaus[ed] a lot of angst\u201d by pro-life protestors outside her Belfast abortion clinic in January […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":65373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3473],"tags":[19,3897,3898,1604,2500,3860,3896],"yoast_head":"\nIrish pro-life leader wins appeal against harassment conviction - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bernadette Smyth, head of N. 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Ireland pro-life organization Precious Life, has won her appeal on a conviction of harassing a former abortion clinic director.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-30T17:15:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-30T18:24:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/keep-ireland-abortion-free-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Calvin Freiburger\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d\"},\"headline\":\"Irish pro-life leader wins appeal against harassment conviction\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-30T17:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-30T18:24:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/\"},\"wordCount\":266,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"abortion\",\"Bernadette Smyth\",\"Dawn Purvis\",\"international\",\"Marie Stopes\",\"Northern Ireland\",\"Precious Life\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/irish-pro-life-leader-wins-appeal-against-harassment-conviction\/\",\"name\":\"Irish pro-life leader wins appeal against harassment conviction - Live Action News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-30T17:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-30T18:24:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bernadette Smyth, head of N. 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