Two pro-life activists were sentenced Tuesday to years on charges of conspiracy against rights and violations of the Freedom of Clinic Entry Act (FACE Act) stemming from a 2020 “rescue operation” at a Washington, D.C.-based abortion clinic. was sentenced to imprisonment. .
Lauren Handy, 30, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for organizing the protest, and co-defendant John Hinshaw, 69, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. According to the indictment, Handy and Hinslow, along with seven others convicted of the same charges, were chained to furniture inside the clinic on October 22, 2020, blocking access to the Washington Surgical Clinic. did.
The several-hour protest was livestreamed on one of the protesters’ Facebook accounts.
“Our ‘crime’ was ‘trying to stop the slaughter of late-term newborns at the Sant’Angelo Abortion Plant in Washington, D.C.,'” Hinslow said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “Furthermore, the importance of these decisions cannot be overstated, as “peaceful civil disobedience” faced with the kind of legal violence currently perpetrated by federal law enforcement agencies cannot be overstated. Because that has never happened before.”
Pro-life activist found guilty of conspiracy in 2020 ‘rescue operation’ at DC clinic
Lauren Handy, director of activities for the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, poses for a portrait in Washington, DC on April 2, 2022. (Photo by Eric Lee for The Washington Post, via Getty Images)
During a jury trial last year, Handy and another co-defendant, Herb Geraghty, argued that the pro-life group Live Action’s “Inhuman: Undercover Investigation of America’s Late-Term Abortion Industry” video was part of the decision to join the blockade. mentioned that it had an impact on
In part of a video released 10 years ago, Santangelo tells a woman undercover that if she goes into labor and gives birth before the “end part of the surgery” is done, “in that case we will help.” “I can’t do it,” he is shown saying.
After the indictment, prosecutors said the remains of what appeared to be an aborted fetus were found in Handy’s Washington home.
According to an October 2022 indictment, Handy used a fabricated identity to secure appointments at the clinic, and when clinic staff opened the door, pro-life activists emerged from the building’s fire escape. invaded the facility. Prosecutors said the incident resulted in an altercation that resulted in a clinic employee being hospitalized with an ankle injury.
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Lauren Handy was sentenced to more than four years in prison. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
prosecutor claimed that Pro-life activists advocated for the FACE Act of 1994, a federal law that prohibits physical violence, threats of force, or intentional damage to property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services. violated.
The defense team asked for a one-year prison sentence for Handy, who has been incarcerated since his conviction in August 2023.
Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas Moore Society, said in an interview on FOX News Digital on Wednesday that it was “a little bit surreal” when Judge Colleen Kohler-Kottery read the “shocking” decision. Told.
“This is not the America I know,” said Crampton, who represented Handy in the lawsuit. “Not only did the judge read out this very harsh sentence, he also had the audacity to lecture Lauren Handy on her lack of compassion for women who are trying to kill their children.”
Crampton compared the pro-life activists’ demonstrations to the current anti-Israel demonstrations that have been taking place on college campuses for several weeks.
“This is in contrast to the ongoing attacks, in which pro-Palestinian forces have shut down universities, even disrupted graduation ceremonies, and blocked entire highways and interstates… There is virtually no ongoing investigation.”I think there is an element of selective prosecution here that cannot be ignored.” ”
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People protest about abortion in front of the Supreme Court on Friday, June 24, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Herber)
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The judge told Handy that she was being punished for her actions, not her beliefs.
“The law does not and should not protect against acts of violence and disruption,” Koller-Kotely said.
Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of about six years for Handy. They described her as an anti-abortion extremist who was the “criminal mastermind” behind the Washington invasion and similar attacks on her other clinics.
“Because she had strong anti-abortion beliefs, she devised a plan to block access to the surgical clinic.” the prosecutor wrote. “This blockade was broadcast to her supporters in Handy, encouraging others to commit similar crimes, publicizing her own criminal conduct, and traumatizing her victims.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
