WASHINGTON – President Trump on Thursday pardoned nearly two dozen pro-life activists convicted under federal law of illegally attempting to prevent women from obtaining abortions, including by illegally blocking entrances to abortion clinics. Gave.
Trump said in the Oval Office that the pardons would be granted to 23 “peaceful protesters” who were prosecuted under the Biden administration.
“Twenty-three people were indicted who should not have been indicted. Many of them are elderly. They should not have been indicted,” the president said. “I am very honored to sign this.”
The Freedom of Access to Clinics Act (FACE), enacted by former President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits the use of physical force to harm, intimidate, or otherwise impede “persons of any class.” The use, threat of physical force, or physical interference is prohibited. [in] obtaining or providing reproductive health services; ”
The law also has the same provisions allowing unfettered access to places of worship, but conservatives argue that the Democratic administration is interested in prosecuting obstruction of abortion clinics.
President Trump will issue the pardon the day before the annual March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to speak via video feed.
The Republican had vowed on the campaign trail that he would issue a pardon once he reached the White House.
“A lot of people are in jail for this,” President Trump said in a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition in June. “We will respond immediately, so [on the] first day. “
One of those expected to be pardoned is Lauren Handy, who was convicted in October 2020 of trying to block the door of a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic and streaming it online. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Prosecutors said Handy's actions left one nurse with a sprained ankle forced to the ground in agony and prevented a pregnant woman in labor from entering the hospital.
Authorities later said they searched Handy's home and found five fetuses hidden inside a cooler.
Others imprisoned under the FACE Act and expected to be pardoned include John Hinshaw (21 months in prison), William Goodman (27 months in prison), Jonathan Darnell (34 months in prison); They include Herb Geraghty (27 months in prison) and Gene Marshall (24 months in prison). ), Joan Bell (27 months), Bevelin Williams (41 months), Heather Idoni (24 months), Calvin Zastrow (6 months), According to Daily Wire.
Hinshaw, Bell, Harlow, Marshall and Idoni were all in their 60s or 70s at the time of their incarceration.
Prosecutors' critics say the Biden administration pursued pro-life activists harshly in an effort to intimidate them, sometimes deploying SWAT teams, and seeking longer prison terms than the standard six months for first-time offenders.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) posted a video early Thursday calling out President Trump for Eva Edl, an 89-year-old pro-life activist and survivor of communist concentration camps in the former Yugoslavia. demanded the release of prisoners of war, including
“Biden indicted pro-lifers, including an 89-year-old concentration camp survivor, for singing hymns in the hallways of his clinic,” Hawley said. said in X. “And Biden, on his last day in office, turned around and granted a pardon to a murderous criminal. President Trump can and should right these wrongs.”
