President Donald Trump has issued pardons for nearly 20 pro-life activists convicted under the FACE Act for obstructing abortion clinic access.
Among them was 33-year-old mother Bevelyn Beatty Williams, sentenced to over three years for blocking a clinic entrance and allegedly injuring a worker’s hand during a protest.
Critics of her sentencing argued it was excessively harsh given the nature of the offenses. Williams had been preaching and praying outside the clinic, and her actions were cited as violating federal protections for clinic access.
“I was persecuted as a Christian standing for my beliefs when it comes to life,” read a statement from Williams on her fundraising page. “This is devastating news. Not only is this bond extensive for the accused crime, but she made it very clear in the courtroom that she was going to make an example out of me.”
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As reported by MSN, a Department of Justice press release noted that according to a livestream on social media posted by Williams, she “stood within inches of the Health Center’s chief administrative officer and threatened to ‘terrorize this place’ and warned that ‘we’re gonna terrorize you so good, your business is gonna be over mama.’”
The pardons, Trump said in the Oval Office, will go to 23 “peaceful protestors” who were prosecuted under the Biden administration. He did not reveal the names of those to be pardoned, but a viral video shows Williams’ emotional reunion with her husband following her release.
“Twenty-three people were prosecuted who should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted,” the president said. “This is a great honor to sign this.”
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, passed in 1994 under Clinton, prohibits using force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with access to reproductive health services or places of worship. While the law protects access to both, conservatives argue its enforcement under Democratic administrations has disproportionately focused on cases involving abortion clinics.
“Many people are in jail over this,” Trump said in June during a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “We’re going to get that taken care of immediately — [on the] first day.”
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According to The New York Post, others who were imprisoned under the FACE Act and expected to be pardoned include: Lauren Handy, sentenced to five years in prison, John Hinshaw (21 months), William Goodman (27 months), Jonathan Darnel (34 months), Herb Geraghty (27 months), Jean Marshall (24 months), Joan Bell (27 months), Bevelyn Williams (41 months), Heather Idoni (24 months) and Calvin Zastrow (6 months), per the Daily Wire.
“Biden prosecuted pro-lifers—including an 89-year-old concentration camp survivor—for singing hymns in a clinic hallway,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said on X. “And then Biden turned around & handed out pardons for criminal murderers on his last day in office. President Trump can & should right these wrongs.”
(MSN)
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