Six pro-life activists face up to a decade in prison each after being convicted of violating federal law for a protest at an abortion clinic in Tennessee, a victory for the Biden administration in what foes have decried as a politically motivated crackdown on the pro-life movement.
A federal jury in Nashville found the six defendants guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act during their March 2021 demonstration outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, described by prosecutors as a “clinic blockade.”
“These defendants are being held accountable for unlawfully obstructing access to reproductive health services,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke after Tuesday’s verdict. “The Justice Department will continue to enforce the FACE Act to protect the rights of those who provide and those who seek access to such services.”
The protesters—Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Calvin Zastrow, Coleman Boyd, Paul Vaughn and Dennis Green—also were found guilty of felony conspiracy. They face a maximum of 10-and-a-half years in prison and fines of up to $260,000.
The six are scheduled to be sentenced July 2, although their attorneys are expected to appeal.
“We are, of course, disappointed with the outcome,” said Steve Crampton, Thomas More Society senior counsel, who represents Vaughn. “This was a peaceful demonstration by entirely peaceable citizens—filled with prayer, hymn-singing, and worship—oriented toward persuading expecting mothers not to abort their babies.”
He said that “the Biden Department of Justice decided to characterize Paul Vaughn’s peaceful actions as a felony ‘conspiracy against rights,’ to intimidate and punish Paul and other pro-life people and people of faith.”
The case has become a flashpoint for abortion foes who accuse the administration of weaponizing the FACE Act against pro-life activists while paying scant attention to the nearly 90 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
“The FACE Act criminalizes an odd assortment of offenses, including blocking access to and vandalizing (1) abortion clinics, (2) places of worship, and (3) pregnancy centers,” said Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, on X. “How many prosecutions has Team Biden brought in the second category? Zero. Not even one.”
Another four defendants are scheduled to stand trial for misdemeanor FACE Act violations stemming from their participation in the 2021 protest.
“The Biden Department of Justice’s pattern of arresting and prosecuting peaceful pro-life advocates is disturbing,” said Mr. Crampton.
U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee said the defendants “knowingly chose to violate laws they disagreed with.”
“The jury’s verdict today is a victory for the rule of law in this country and a reminder that we cannot pick and choose which laws we follow,” he said. “It is also a testament to the outstanding work done in this case by the trial team and our law enforcement partners.”
Video of the protest, which was live-streamed by the activists on Facebook, showed them sitting in front of the clinic door singing.
BREAKING: Six pro-life activists were just found guilty in federal court after being prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ under the FACE Act for protesting outside a Nashville abortion clinic.
Here’s a snippet of the protest, which occurred on March 5, 2021.
For the crime of praying and… pic.twitter.com/UPzZvtZebM
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 30, 2024
Police ended up escorting some patients into the clinic. Prosecutors played video clips showing one of the protesters saying that a woman entering the facility was “coming to kill her baby” and that the officer was “leading a baby to be murdered,” the Tennessean reported.
One witness said that she had scheduled an abortion but left “because of the protesters.” A clinic employee said that she was “trapped inside the building,” which the defense disputed, saying that video “showed traffic clearly passing down the hallway to and from the abortion venue.”
“This is a frustrating setback, for Paul, for his family, and 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 FBI agents, on through the trial,” said Mr. Crampton, referring to Vaughn’s October 2022 arrest at his home.
The six-day trial took place at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Nashville.