Thomas More Society petitions Trump to pardon 21 pro-life activists in prison
Joan Andrews Bell, Jean Marshall, Heather Idoni, and Paulette Harlow are four pro-life women serving time after being convicted on federal charges for for blockading the inside of an abortion clinic in 2020. / Credit: Chris Bell/Laura Gise/Heather Idoni/Paulette Harlow Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
A Catholic law firm is formally petitioning the incoming presidential administration to pardon 21 pro-life activists who are imprisoned for protests at abortion clinics under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
In its petition to President-elect Donald Trump, the Thomas More Society argues “these pro-life Americans are deserving of full and unconditional pardons.”
At least two times during his 2024 campaign for the presidency, Trump said he intended to release pro-life activists who are currently imprisoned.
“These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by [President Joe] Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest — all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the petition from the Chicago-based law firm reads.
During Biden’s four years in office, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) brought charges against more than 30 people who took part in pro-life demonstrations under the FACE Act, which was legislation in the 1990s to increase penalties for people who obstruct access to abortion clinics or pregnancy resource centers.
Although the FACE Act’s higher sentences also apply to people who obstruct or damage pro-life pregnancy centers, Biden’s DOJ only brought charges in two cases regarding attacks on those facilities despite more than 100 incidents occurring under his tenure.
“While Biden’s prosecutors almost entirely ignored the firebombing and vandalism of hundreds of pro-life churches and pregnancy centers, they viciously pursued pro-life Americans,” the petition adds.
The longest sentence was given last year to Lauren Handy, who received four years and nine months in prison for her role in a protest at an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. The second longest was also given last year to Bevelyn Beatty Williams, who received three years and five months in prison for a protest inside an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C.
Several pro-life activists in their mid-to-late 70s also received multiyear sentences for their protests.
“These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities,” Steve Crampton, who works as senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement.
“Through full and unconditional pardons for these pro-life advocates, President Trump has the chance to remedy the harm done to them and their families, deliver on his campaign promises, and repair trust in our constitutional order,” Crampton added.
The petition also asserts that Biden’s DOJ “flagrantly violated Congress’ intent in its pursuit of the prosecutions,” noting that members of Congress were “fearful that the FACE Act might be used against protesters who had been employing tactics that were used and celebrated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
“Dr. King and many with him engaged in peaceful sit-ins at lunch counters — an act of simple trespass — and these pro-life Americans engage in similar sit-ins at abortion facilities,” the petition adds. “FACE expressly contemplated that group-oriented peaceable civil disobedience, as advocated and practiced by Dr. King and his followers, would be punishable as mere misdemeanors.”
Trump is scheduled to assume office on Monday, Jan. 20.
