WASHINGTON — Conservative and pro-life groups are calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate reports that pro-life activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department were neglected, while trans-identifying prisoners were given special treatment.
In a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire, the coalition highlighted former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany&#8217;s interview with the pro-life prisoners, who Donald Trump pardoned on his fourth day in office. William Goodman, one of the prisoners, alleged to McEnany that he was mistreated while in prison on Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act charges brought by the Biden Justice Department.
&#8220;William Goodman, unjustly sentenced to 27 months in prison, alleges that he was kept in a condemned unit and suffered from neglect while in prison, going two weeks without toilet paper,&#8221; reads the letter, led by Advancing American Freedom&#8217;s Paul Teller. &#8220;Meanwhile, Mr. Goodman alleges that other prisoners, suffering from gender dysphoria, were provided with dresses, mascara, lipstick, and perfume, as requested.&#8221;
&#8220;While Mr. Goodman’s allegations are shocking, they are not unsurprising given the Biden Administration&#8217;s gross mistreatment of pro-life Americans,&#8221; the letter continues. &#8220;We request that you conduct a full investigation into these, and other allegations of mistreatment made by FACE Act prisoners.&#8221;
CatholicVote, Live Action founder Lila Rose, Students for Life, and Liberty Counsel also signed onto the missive, sent Friday to Bondi.
<div id="attachment_872535" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=872535" rel="attachment wp-att-872535"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-872535" class="wp-image-872535 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;We went over two weeks without toilet paper,&#8221; Goodman <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pardoned-trump-pro-life-activists-break-silence-after-being-sentenced-prison-during-biden-admin">told McEnany in the interview</a>. &#8220;And some of the guys mentioned that some of the men who were there with gender dysphoria, wearing dresses, could get mascara, lipstick, and perfume — but we couldn’t even get toilet paper or basic needs. So there was a lot of neglect.&#8221;
Last year, Goodman suffered a serious head injury while he was imprisoned in Danbury, Connecticut’s Federal Correctional Institution. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-activist-targeted-by-biden-doj-suffers-serious-head-injury-in-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire that he fell off the top bunk in his cell, which did not have guard rails, and landed on his head.
After a trip to the emergency room where he found out he had fractured his skull, he said that he was sent back to prison overnight even though he said he was still feeling severely dizzy and nauseous. Goodman said that he was only given Tylenol and some anti-nausea medication.
“I just feel dizzy and abandoned and sore and sick. But it could be worse…mostly I stay in bed and drink water and take meds and try to sleep,&#8221; Goodman said. &#8220;But I can’t sleep. It is like a cruel torture. My left side of my head is like a constant migraine that seems to bang all night. Plus the loud prison noise and bright lights add to the turmoil. And the uncomfortable beds and no pillow.”
Heather Idoni, another former pro-life prisoner freed by Trump, also said that she was mistreated by federal agents during her time in custody. Idoni, 60, was convicted in three FACE Act cases across the country, including one in Washington, D.C., for which she was sentenced to two years in prison.
When she was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/59-year-old-grandma-in-prison-over-pro-life-protest-says-she-just-wants-to-hold-my-new-grandson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> in Nashville over a peaceful sit-in at a Tennessee abortion facility, she said the U.S. Marshals who had been bussing her from prison to prison had treated her cruelly. In one instance, Idoni said that some marshals had put chains so tight around her waist that she struggled to breathe when she sat down, and that one marshal told her she would tighten it more if she complained again.
During her time in federal custody, Idoni had three stents put into her heart, which was complicated by the fact that she was ferried around to at least eight different prisons.
The treatment of the imprisoned pro-lifers has already received <a href="https://chrissmith.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2024-05-16_-_member_letter_on_healthcare_for_marshall_and_idoni.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrutiny</a> from federal lawmakers, including Republicans in the House Pro-Life Caucus. Led by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Andy Harris (R-MD). They wrote to the U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding answers on the treatment of Idoni and Jean Marshall, 77, who was also imprisoned over the D.C. protest.
Marshall was reportedly denied hip surgery, despite increasing pain in her right leg and difficulty in walking.
Lawmakers also hope to probe whether the Justice Department and FBI violated the First Amendment rights of pro-life protests. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-chip-roy-demands-fbi-doj-retain-records-of-pro-life-prosecutions-as-biden-leaves-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly demanded</a> that the two entities keep all records of the prosecutions.

Pam Bondi Sworn In As Attorney General

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Orgs Ask Bondi To Investigate Neglect Of Pro-Lifers Imprisoned By Biden

Abortion

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

FACE Act

Joe Biden

Pam Bondi

Pro-Life Movement

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday pardoning 23 of the pro-life activists targeted by President Joe Biden&#8217;s Justice Department.
&#8220;They should not have been prosecuted,&#8221; Trump said as he signed the order. &#8220;Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this.&#8221;
The pardons are for 23 &#8220;peaceful pro-life protesters who were prosecuted by the Biden administration for exercising their First Amendment rights.&#8221; They were prosecuted under the FACE Act and a Reconstruction-era felony conspiracy charge first used for the first time against pro-life activists by the Biden administration.
The Thomas More Society, the law firm representing the activists, had asked Trump to pardon 21 pro-lifers: Joan Bell, Coleman Boyd, Joel Curry, Jonathan Darnel, Eva Edl, Chester Gallagher, William Goodman, Dennis Green, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, Jean Marshall, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, Justin Phillips, Paul Place, Paul Vaughn, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, Calvin Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and James Zastrow. 
<div id="attachment_864637" style="width: 877px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj/us-politics-trump-134" rel="attachment wp-att-864637"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-864637" class="wp-image-864637 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-867x576.jpg" alt="" width="867" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-867x576.jpg 867w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-768x510.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-2048x1360.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px" /></a>(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
“Today, freedom rings in our great nation,&#8221; said Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. &#8220;The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden’s Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal, and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place.&#8221;
Peter Breen, the executive vice president of the firm, added: &#8220;Today is a new day for the pardoned pro-life advocates who have suffered FBI raids, federal prosecutions, and severe punishment for peacefully and courageously witnessing for life. We thank President Trump for keeping his promise to these pro-life mothers, fathers, grandparents, pastors, and priests.&#8221; 
&#8220;What happened to these peaceful pro-life individuals must never happen again,&#8221; he said in a statement. &#8220;We urge Congress to act swiftly in repealing the FACE Act to make sure that the Justice Department can never again weaponize this law to target peaceful pro-lifers with severe charges.” 
Many of those pardoned were convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Manhattan, and Detroit. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers were already serving lengthy prison sentences. 
In D.C., a group of pro-life protesters sang songs, prayed, locked arms in front of the facility’s staff entrance, and attached themselves with ropes and chains to block doors inside the infamous Surgi-Clinic in October 2020, a late-term abortion facility. 
Those who were imprisoned over the D.C. protest include Lauren Handy (57 months in prison), John Hinshaw (21 months), William Goodman (27 months), Jonathan Darnell (34 months), Herb Geraghty (27 months), Jean Marshall (24 months), Joan Bell (27 months), Paulette Harlow (24 months), and Heather Idoni (24 months).
In Tennessee, a group of pro-life Christians gathered in a hall outside the Carafem Health Center in Mt. Juliet where they sang hymns, prayed, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021. Calvin Zastrow, 63, is currently serving a six-month prison sentence over the protest and 75-year-old Chester Gallagher was sentenced to 16 months though he has not had to report to prison yet. 
In New York, Bevelyn Beatty Williams was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison after she was convicted of violating the FACE Act after she blocked the entrance to an abortion facility in Manhattan. 
The pardons should also bring relief to those who were awaiting sentencing, including 89-year-old Eva Edl. Edl, who survived a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp, was convicted in both Nashville and Detroit and could have been sentenced to over a decade in prison over her convictions on FACE and a felony conspiracy charge.
When passed in 1994, the FACE Act was supposed to protect both churches and clinics, but the law has almost exclusively been used to prosecute pro-lifers. Data obtained by Roy shows that 97% of FACE Act cases brought by the Justice Department have been against pro-life Americans. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) renewed an effort to repeal the FACE Act this week, pointing out how it has been disproportionately used against pro-lifers. 
The response to the pardons has already been positive with Republican lawmakers and conservative activists praising the decision.
&#8220;President Trump&#8217;s pardon today of pro-life activists unjustly imprisoned under President Biden is a great credit to his legacy,&#8221; CatholicVote&#8217;s Tommy Valentine said. &#8220;We hope he will go a step further in undoing Biden&#8217;s unjust legacy by directing his Department of Justice to evenly enforce the FACE Act, for as long as it is on the books, against violent pro-abortion extremists who have been attacking pregnancy resource centers and churches for years.&#8221;
The news came shortly after the Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-jd-vances-first-speech-as-vice-president-to-be-at-national-march-for-life">reported</a> that Trump would pardon the pro-life activists within a matter of days. The plight of the imprisoned pro-lifers is an immediate priority to Trump’s team, two sources with knowledge of the matter shared with The Daily Wire.
Friday is the 52nd annual March for Life, where Vice President JD Vance will publicly speak for the first time since he was sworn into office, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-jd-vances-first-speech-as-vice-president-to-be-at-national-march-for-life">first reported on Thursday</a>.
This is a breaking story; please refresh this page for updates.

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‘They Should Not Have Been Prosecuted’: Trump Pardons 23 Pro-Lifers Targeted By Biden DOJ

Biden Administration

President Donald Trump will pardon pro-life activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department within days, The Daily Wire has learned.
The plight of the imprisoned pro-lifers is an immediate priority to Trump&#8217;s team, and they will likely be pardoned within days, two sources with knowledge of the matter shared with The Daily Wire. The revelation comes a day ahead of the 52nd annual March for Life, a massive peaceful demonstration that takes place in Washington D.C. to bring awareness to the many babies whose lived are ended through abortions. The president is expected to appear at the rally in a pre-recorded video.
Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Monday that granted full pardons for about 1,500 criminal defendants related to the January 6 Capitol Riot, making good on a campaign promises to free those targeted by the Biden administration. His actions prompted many in the pro-life community to hope that he would similarly pardon the pro-life activists targeted by the Biden Justice Department under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
“I hope President Trump will shortly pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration,&#8221; Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley posted to &#8220;X&#8221; on Wednesday. &#8220;They deserve to be free.&#8221;
On Thursday, The Daily Signal <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/01/23/exclusive-mike-lee-to-introduce-bill-to-repeal-law-weaponized-against-pro-lifers/">first reported</a> that Republican Utah Sen, Mike Lee had re-introduced a bill that would repeal the FACE Act once and for all.
“While President [Donald] Trump is stopping these outrageous prosecutions, we should ensure that no future administration has the ability to persecute Americans through unequal application of the law,&#8221; Lee told the publication.
<div id="attachment_864015" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-pardon-imprisoned-pro-life-activists-within-days/inauguration-of-donald-trump-as-47th-president-of-the-united-states-8" rel="attachment wp-att-864015"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-864015" class="wp-image-864015 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</div>
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas introduced a companion bill in the House on Tuesday, saying Republicans needed to take advantage of their control of Congress and the White House.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Biden DOJ for targeting pro-lifers on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.”
The pardons would bring immediate relief to those currently imprisoned including 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), and Calvin Zastrow (6 months).
These defendants were imprisoned over protests at abortion facilities in Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and New York.
The D.C. protest involved a group of pro-life protesters singing songs, praying, locking arms in front of the facility’s staff entrance, and attaching themselves with ropes and chains to block doors inside the infamous Surgi-Clinic in October 2020, a late term abortion facility. In Tennessee, a group of pro-life Christians gathered in a hall outside the Carafem Health Center in Mt. Juliet where they sang hymns, prayed, and urged women not to get abortion in March 2021.
Many of the defendants have already been imprisoned for over a year with many more months yet to serve.
“I would love to be home with my family,” 59-year-old Heather Idoni said in September. “I would love to hold my new grandson.”
Idoni was sentenced to two years in prison over the D.C. protest and was given another eight months to serve concurrently from the Nashville protest.
The pardons would also bring relief to those awaiting sentencing, including 89-year-old Eva Edl. Edl, who survived a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp, was convicted in Detroit and could be sentenced to over a decade in prison over her conviction on FACE and a felony conspiracy charge.
The Thomas More Society, which represented many of the defendants during their federal trials, formally petitioned for the pardons last week, and urged Trump on Wednesday to issue the pardons. Wednesday is the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2022 largely thanks to votes from Trump appointees.
“Today would be an incredible day for him to do that,” Breen told The Daily Wire on Wednesday morning, discussing possible pardons.

The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President

President Trump To Pardon Imprisoned Pro-Life Activists Within Days

Members of the pro-life community are anxiously awaiting word that President Donald Trump will pardon the activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department for trying to prevent abortions.
Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Monday that granted full pardons for about 1,500 criminal defendants related to the January 6 Capitol Riot, making good on many campaign promises to free those targeted by the Biden DOJ. 
He has also repeatedly criticized the Biden Justice Department for targeting pro-lifers on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.”
The Thomas More Society, which represented many of the defendants during their federal trials, formally petitioned for the pardons last week, and urged Trump on Wednesday to issue the pardons. Wednesday is the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2022 largely thanks to votes from Trump appointees.
Both Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Peter Breen and lawyer Steve Crampton told The Daily Wire that this Roe anniversary would be a great day for Trump to issue the pardons. 
&#8220;Today would be an incredible day for him to do that,” Breen told The Daily Wire on Wednesday morning, discussing possible pardons. 
The law firm posted on X, formerly Twitter, calling on Trump to keep his promise, writing: “During your victorious campaign, you pledged to restore justice to the pro-life political targets of Biden’s DOJ. On today’s anniversary of Roe v. Wade, please keep your promise to these peaceful pro-lifers.”
Paul Vaughn, one of the pro-lifers targeted by the Biden Justice Department, seconded this sentiment in his own social media posts.
&#8220;Amen. Today is as good a day as any,&#8221; he wrote to Trump. &#8220;The Pro-lifers could eat dinner with their families tonight instead of yet another prison meal.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Amen. Today is as good a day as any. <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> The Pro-lifers could eat dinner with their families tonight instead of yet another prison meal.<a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DailySignal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailySignal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TCNetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TCNetwork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TuckerCarlson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LilaGraceRose?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LilaGraceRose</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GRTL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GRTL</a><a href="https://twitter.com/ClevelandRTL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ClevelandRTL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MiaCathell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiaCathell</a> <a href="https://t.co/wycOjl7ZO8">https://t.co/wycOjl7ZO8</a>
&mdash; Paul TN (@vaughnshire) <a href="https://twitter.com/vaughnshire/status/1882132372885512557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he hoped that Trump would free the prisoners, whose sentences range from six to 57 months.  
“I hope President Trump will shortly pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration. They deserve to be free,” Hawley posted on X. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I hope President Trump will shorty pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration. They deserve to be free
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1881856067669491993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) also called on Trump to pardon Lauren Handy, its director of activism, who is currently serving a 57-month sentence over a protest at a notorious late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C. She won’t be free until July 2027. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Prolife activist Lauren Handy has been in prison for 17 months. Months ago she sustained an ankle injury and still hasn’t healed. Some days she can’t walk from the pain. She must be pardoned to return home and heal. Her 57 month sentence is too long.
— PAAU (@PAAUNOW) <a href="https://twitter.com/PAAUNOW/status/1881817919392502227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
“Prolife activist Lauren Handy has been in prison for 17 months. Months ago she sustained an ankle injury and still hasn’t healed,” the organization said. “Some days she can’t walk from the pain. She must be pardoned to return home and heal. Her 57 month sentence is too long.” 
In addition to Handy, the group urged for all 20 other defendants successfully prosecuted under Biden to be pardoned and freed. 
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Matt Walsh repeatedly pushed for the pro-lifers to be pardoned, saying on Wednesday: “They are political prisoners who should not spend one more moment in jail under a Trump Administration. I pray that their pardons are coming immediately.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
They are political prisoners who should not spend one more moment in jail under a Trump Administration. I pray that their pardons are coming immediately. <a href="https://t.co/tVA2Ni7JPk">https://t.co/tVA2Ni7JPk</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1882135057902739643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Chip Roy (TX) introduced a measure alongside 20 House Republicans to repeal the FACE Act, pointing out its disproportionate use against pro-life activists, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/roy-introduces-bill-to-repeal-law-used-to-imprison-pro-life-activists">reported</a>. 
“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,” Roy said. “No more excuses, let’s get it done.”

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Pro-Life Community Anxiously Awaits Trump Pardons For Imprisoned Activists

Josh Hawley

Pro-life Americans “unjustly imprisoned” by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department are formally appealing to Donald Trump for pardons. 
The Daily Wire is first reporting the petitions for pardons of the 21 pro-life advocates, sent Wednesday to Trump by the Thomas More Society, the pro-life law firm that represents the defendants. 
“These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest—all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the Thomas More Society lawyers wrote. “Their respective plights and personal information are provided in attachments to this letter. We respectfully urge that all 21 of them detailed here are richly deserving of full and unconditional pardons.” 
Trump has criticized the Biden Justice Department for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defend-our-country-imprisoned-pro-life-activists-urge-americans-to-vote-against-kamala">targeting pro-lifers</a> on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.” The Daily Wire has spoken to some of the pro-life prisoners, and many of them have hopefully mentioned this promise in eager anticipation of Trump&#8217;s inauguration. 
<div id="attachment_858899" style="width: 780px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-21-pro-life-defendants-targeted-by-biden-doj-ask-trump-to-pardon-them/anti-abortion-activists-demonstrate-in-d-c-during-annual-march-for-life" rel="attachment wp-att-858899"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858899" class="wp-image-858899 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg 770w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-768x574.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-2048x1532.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /></a>(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)</div>
The pro-lifers requesting pardons are Paul Vaughn, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Eva Edl, James Zastrow, Paul Place, Heather Idoni, Eva Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Calvin Zastrow, Joel Curry, Justin Philips, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, Joan Bell, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Jonathan Darnel, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, and Bevelyn Beatty Williams.
“These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities,” argued Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Through full and unconditional pardons for these pro-life advocates, President Trump has the chance to remedy the harm done to them and their families, deliver on his campaign promises, and repair trust in our constitutional order.”
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Since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Justice Department has <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/12/doj-official-admits-targeting-pro-lifers-is-response-to-overturn-of-roe/">aggressively targeted</a> pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law protecting abortion clinics under which pro-life activists can be charged for blocking or inhibiting a woman from getting an abortion.
The FACE Act also protects <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">Catholic Churches</a>, but Biden’s Justice Department has never used it to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking Catholic churches. 
The Justice Department only used FACE on a handful of occasions to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking pregnancy centers — though <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">more than 95 pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">more than 300 churches have been attacked</a> since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating Roe would soon be overturned. 
<h3>The Cases</h3>
Many of those seeking pardons have been convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, and Detroit — trials that The Daily Wire&#8217;s Leif Le Mahieu has covered on the ground. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers are already serving lengthy prison sentences. 
In May 2024, Lauren Handy was <a href="https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/news/peaceful-pro-life-advocate-lauren-handy-faces-miscarriage-of-justice-sentenced-to-57-months-in-prison">given</a> 57 months in prison for her participation after she helped stage a sit-in at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility. She is currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee and won’t be free until July 2027. 
One of Handy’s co-defendants, 59-year-old Heather Idoni, is serving a two-year prison sentence over a D.C. protest and eight months over a peaceful protest at a Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, abortion facility. 
“I would love to be home with my family,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/59-year-old-grandma-in-prison-over-pro-life-protest-says-she-just-wants-to-hold-my-new-grandson">said</a> during her sentencing in Nashville in September 2024. “I would love to hold my new grandson.”
In Nashville, Idoni joined a group of pro-life Christians who gathered in a hallway outside the Carafem Health Center where they prayed, sang hymns, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021. 
Calvin Zastrow, a 63-year-old pro-lifer from Michigan, is serving a six month sentence in federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, for his conviction over the Mt. Juliet protest.  One of his fellow protesters, 75-year-old Chester Gallagher, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the protest. 
During their trial, it was demonstrated that there was no violence or threats of violence during the Mt. Juliet sit-in, which was broken up by local police. While the judge ended up imposing prison sentences for several defendants, they were shorter than what the Biden administration had requested. 
One of those yet to be sentenced is Eva Edl, an 89-year-old survivor of a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp. She faces over 10 years in prison for her conviction on FACE and felony conspiracy in Detroit. Throughout the trial, Edl said that it was her faith in Jesus and belief that suffering would strengthen her that kept her going. 
Federal Judge Matthew Leitman has paused the case due to Trump’s election, suggesting he believes the incoming administration will pursue a different course on prosecuting FACE. 
<h3>Repealing the FACE Act</h3>
Biden’s disproportionate application of FACE against pro-lifers has come under scrutiny from lawmakers, who say it has been unfairly weaponized. 
In December, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on FACE where Paul Vaughn, one of those convicted in Nashville, testified about the armed FBI raid of his home. 
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
Vaughan told The Daily Wire he was &#8220;hopeful that President Trump will honor his campaign promises and pardon all the pro-life Christians.&#8221;
&#8220;This is especially important for those who have been in jail for over a year at this point. Not only should they be pardoned, they should be rewarded for their sacrifice and dedication to the ideas and values that once made America the freest nation on Earth.&#8221;
Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have consistently proposed repealing the FACE Act, arguing that it has become a one-sided law used to go after conservative Christians. 
“Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/07/exclusive-conservative-leaders-call-jordan-johnson-repeal-face-act/">130 times</a> against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/data-show-there-have-been-22-times-more-attacks-on-pro-lifers-pro-choice-groups-since-supreme-court-leak">22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics</a>,” wrote Roy and Lee in a joint May 2024 op-ed. 
“Just last year, there were <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/436-acts-of-hostility-against-us-churches-documented-in-2023.html">436 incidents</a> of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/topic/congress">Congress</a> with the Justice Department&#8217;s FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.” 
The lawmakers argue that FACE holds “no value other than to allow the Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda,” concluding:  “It&#8217;s time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.”

Mary Margaret Olohan and Leif Le Mahieu

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