Nearly a dozen pro-life activists who were arrested for praying and singing in an abortion clinic, then charged and thrown in federal prison by the Biden Department of Justice, have been pardoned by President Donald Trump. DOJ prosecutors argued they violated the FACE [Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances] Act. The move comes on the eve of the annual March for Life in Washington D.C.
🚨 BREAKING: President Donald J. Trump grants pardons to peaceful pro-life protesters prosecuted by the Biden administration over exercising their First Amendment rights. pic.twitter.com/XwzU4dEJt8
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 23, 2025
These are the names of the individuals who received a pardon:
Lauren Handy (57 months in prison)
John Hinshaw (21 months)
Jonathan Darnell (34 months)
Herb Geraghty (27 months)
Jean Marshall (24 months)
Joan Bell (27 months)
Paulette Harlow (24 months)
Bevelyn Williams (41 months)
Heather Idoni (24 months)
Calvin Zastro (6 months)
The pro-lifers had the backing of Republican senators on Capitol Hill, who advocated for their pardoning ahead of Trump's decision.
Biden prosecuted pro-lifers—including an 89-year-old concentration camp survivor—for singing hymns in a clinic hallway
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 23, 2025
And then Biden turned around & handed out pardons for criminal murderers on his last day in office
President Trump can & should right these wrongs pic.twitter.com/GggPSqMLs7
Meanwhile, legislation has been introduced to repeal the FACE Act to prevent abuse of the law in the future.
"Americans just spent the last four years being targeted by a weaponized justice system. The FACE Act was one of the primary weapons of abuse — being used to politically target, arrest, and jail pro-life Americans for speaking out and standing up for life,” Republican Congressman Chip Roy, who reintroduced the legislation ahead of the pardons, released in a statement.
“While President Trump and his team are already fast at work reversing the damage of the J6 political prosecutions and persecutions through pardons and commutations, I am hopeful those targeted under the FACE Act will be given similar relief. But importantly, we in Congress need to do our part to eliminate the laws used for the weaponization, including the FACE Act," he continued. "Data my office obtained from Merrick Garland's DOJ showed that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions from 1994-2024 were against pro-life Americans. Now that we have a Republican trifecta in the House, Senate, and White House, Congress should move quickly to repeal this law and ensure that no future president can weaponize it against pro-lifers ever again. No more excuses, let's get it done."
The legislation has dozens of co-sponsors.