They face up to 10 years in prison for conspiring to prevent someone else from exercising their rights and for violating the FACE Act
Five pro-life activists have been found guilty on charges of stopping women entering a Washington abortion clinic in 2020.
They face up to 10 years in prison for conspiring to prevent someone else from exercising their rights.
Lawyers with The Thomas More Society said that the protesters—members of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU)—were also found guilty in the U.S. District Court in Washington on Aug. 29 of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
They said the Act makes it a crime to use violence, physical obstruction, or intimidation to block access to reproductive services.
Nonviolent actions breaking this law can result in up to a year in prison for committing a misdemeanor.
Senior counsel Steve Crampton said: “The court found that because the violation of FACE—in this case—was a crime of ‘violence,’ all five defendants must be immediately incarcerated.
“So, the defendants were led out of the courtroom by an army of U.S. Marshals. This is an outrage.”
The charges arose from an incident on Oct. 22, 2020, where PAAU director of activism Lauren Handy, Herb Geraghty, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, Will Goodman, Jay Smith, Paula Harlow, Jean Marshal, Joan Bell, Jonathan Darnel, and Caroline Davis entered the Washington Surgi-Clinic.
Ms. Davis took a plea deal and testified for the government. Ms. Smith, Ms. Harlow, Ms. Marshal, Ms. Bell, and Mr. Darnel will go on trial at a later date.
The prosecution said they conspired to block the clinic’s entrances. Their lawyers said they didn’t.
The Epoch Times contacted the district court’s media liaison, Lisa J. Klem, but she didn’t reply by publication time.
In a transcript of the closing statement provided by The Thomas More Society, senior counsel Martin Cannon told jurors Ms. Handy didn’t block entry to the clinic.
“You saw it on video,” he said. “She’s not blocking anything.”
By Jackson Elliott
