Six pro-life activists could face up to 10.5 years in jail plus hefty fines following their conviction for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a federal felony.
On Jan. 30, a jury delivered a guilty verdict for the six, who participated in a March 2021 "rescue" at the Carafem Health Center Clinic in the suburb of Mt. Joliet in Tennessee. The pro-life individuals who were convicted are as follows:
- Chester Gallagher from Tennessee
- Heather Idoni from Michigan
- Calvin Zastrow from Michigan
- Coleman Boyd from Mississippi
- Dennis Green from Virginia
- Paul Vaughn from Tennessee
"Each of the protesters involved in the Tennessee rescue now faces as many as 10.5 years behind bars, and up to $260,000 in fines," said LifeSiteNews. "Sentencing is slated to take place July 2."
Idoni participated in an earlier "rescue" done in front of a Washington, D.C. abortion clinic. She and her co-activists were convicted of violating the FACE Act in that instance and taken into custody. Meanwhile, Vaugn – a husband and father of 11 – was arrested at gunpoint at his family home in 2022.
Caroline Davis, an activist who was charged in the 2021 Tennessee rescue, entered a guilty plea in October 2023. As part of this plea deal, she is now "cooperating with the government" and has agreed to "testify against her co-defendants at trial." Davis previously testified against defendants, including Idoni, in the Washington, D.C. rescue.
The federal grand jury in Nashville alleged that the defendants, "aided and abetted by one another, used force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services" – the latter a common euphemism for abortions.
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Incidentally, the Carafem Health Center Clinic was forced to stop providing abortions in compliance with the Volunteer State-enacted pro-life legislation following the June 2022 overturn of the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. (Related: REPORT: 137 Abortion clinics have been SHUT DOWN since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.)
Conviction triggers outrage from pro-lifers
Despite the harsh convictions the defendants received, the so-called "rescue" was far from chaotic. In fact, it was markedly peaceful – with participants standing inside the building, singing hymns and some even sitting in front of doors to prevent entry and exit.
Footage made public by the pro-life group Live Action shows activists standing and sitting inside a building hallway. They were singing hymns and praying, and even attempted to engage a woman seeking infanticide. The activists sought to convince the woman not to abort her baby.
Supporters of the six pro-life defendants responded to the conviction with outrage and disappointment.
Steve Crampton, an attorney representing Vaughn, said in a statement that the verdict was a "frustrating setback [for his client and] for his family." The senior counsel at the Thomas More Society continued that it was also a setback "for the extended pro-life community, which has rallied support for Paul from the day of his arrest in front of his wife and children by heavily armed Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, on through the trial.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), meanwhile, accused the Biden administration of having a double standard when it comes to the FACE Act. While the law is mainly invoked to protect abortion facilities, its provisions also apply to pro-life pregnancy centers.
'The Biden administration incarcerates people for praying at abortion clinics while ignoring violent acts at churches and pregnancy centers," he posted on X. "So many camels. So much obsessive attention paid to harmless things mistaken for gnats."
According to LifeSiteNews, "many Republican lawmakers and others have contended that the Biden administration has 'selectively enforced' the FACE Act to go after pro-lifers, while failing to do enough to prosecute the more than 100 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches since the U.S. Supreme Court's draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked."
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Watch Dr. Taylor Marshall weigh in on the conviction of the six pro-life activists in Tennessee below.
This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.
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