President Donald Trump has pardoned a group of anti-abortion activists who were convicted for blocking entrances to an abortion clinic in Washington, DC, in October 2020.
Calling it “a great honour,” Trump said the activists were “peaceful pro-life protesters” who should not have faced prosecution. Among those pardoned was Lauren Handy, who had been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for leading the protest. Handy and others had used locks and chains to block clinic doors, according to prosecutors. During the blockade, a nurse injured her ankle, and a pregnant woman in labour was harassed.
Police later found five foetuses in Handy’s home after her indictment, prosecutors said. Trump also pardoned nine of Handy’s co-defendants: Jonathan Darnel of Virginia; Jay Smith, John Hinshaw, and William Goodman of New York; Joan Bell of New Jersey; Paulette Harlow and Jean Marshall of Massachusetts; Heather Idoni of Michigan; and Herb Geraghty of Pennsylvania.
Trump’s pardons have drawn criticism from abortion rights advocates, who argue the move reflects his strong opposition to abortion access. Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations for Reproductive Freedom for All, said, “Donald Trump on the campaign trail tried to have it both ways — bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade while claiming he wouldn’t take further action on abortion. This shows us that we were right to doubt him.”
The activists had been charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 law created to protect abortion clinics from blockades, threats, and violence. Trump criticised the FACE Act during his campaign, calling the prosecutions under it unfair.
Supporters of the pardoned activists, including the Thomas More Society, a legal group representing them, argued the protesters were “unjustly imprisoned.” In a letter to Trump earlier this month, the group praised his commitment to freeing them, saying his messages had given the activists hope during their time in prison, as reported by AP.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley, a Trump ally, also supported the pardons, calling the prosecutions “a grotesque assault on the principles of this country.” Hawley urged Trump to act, reading stories of anti-abortion protesters like Eva Edl, involved in a Tennessee clinic blockade, during a Senate speech.
The announcement comes just ahead of the annual March for Life protest in Washington, where Trump is expected to address attendees via video.
(with input from AP)
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