Four More Pro-Life Activists Convicted Under FACE Act

CNA ^ | 4/3 | Peter Pinedo

[nickcarraway]

Four pro-life activists have been convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and now face prison time and thousands of dollars in fines.

According to a Department of Justice statement released on Wednesday, the pro-lifers face a “maximum of six months in prison, five years of supervised release, and fines of up to $10,000.”

The four activists — Eva Edl, 87; Eva Zastro, 24; James Zastro, 25; and Paul Place, 24 — were convicted of FACE Act violations in federal court on Tuesday for a protest held at a Tennessee abortion clinic in March 2021.

Edl is a well-known pro-life activist and a survivor of a communist concentration camp who fled Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.

In January, six individuals involved in the same protest were convicted of violating the FACE Act.

The latest conviction was issued by a federal judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, according to the DOJ statement.

The statement said the judge determined that the “evidence presented at trial proved that the defendants violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction over the course of several hours to interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient.”

“These defendants positioned themselves directly in front of the main clinic door for over two hours, physically blocking access to the clinic, resulting in no patients accessing the clinic. Police requested that the defendants leave or move multiple times, but after more than two hours, these defendants were arrested,” the statement said.

The protest took place at Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. Captured extensively on video, the four activists along with several other pro-lifers stood in front of the abortion clinic’s doors while singing Christian hymns and chanting prayers.

Police in the video can be seen demanding they leave the building and while some do, others refuse.

Passed in 1994, the federal FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

The federal government announced in October 2022 that it had charged 11 of the individuals involved in the Mt. Juliet protest under the FACE Act. In January six other pro-life activists were charged with both misdemeanor and criminal FACE Act violations for the same protest and are currently facing possibly 11 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

The four convicted this week are the latest in a growing list of pro-lifers being prosecuted for FACE Act violations under the Biden administration.

There is an ongoing effort, led by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, to repeal the FACE Act because it has been “weaponized” by the Biden administration against pro-lifers. Opponents of the law point out that though churches and pregnancy centers are also protected under the FACE Act there have only been four people charged for attacks on churches and pregnancy centers in the last year, despite over 100 attacks taking place.

Some commentators, such as Evita Duffy-Alfonso, who is a producer for the conservative “The Dan Bongino Show,” have pointed out that the pro-Palestine, environmental protestors who disrupted the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Saturday violated the FACE Act but are not being prosecuted for it.

MORE IN US Gov. Kim Reynolds Iowa Iowa governor signs Religious Freedom Restoration Act Read article “The pro-Palestine lunatics who interrupted Easter Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this week are in clear violation of the law. Do you think the DOJ will go after them? Of course not,” Duffy-Alfonso said on X.

In response to Tuesday’s convictions, Roy renewed his call to repeal the FACE Act, saying in a Wednesday X post that Congress should pass his bill repealing the law “immediately.”

[xoxox]

Leviticus 19:16

You shall not go about spreading slander among your people; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake. I am the LORD.

There seem to be enough alternate translations of this to let everyone off the hook, if they want to be let off the hook, and thereby not feel too bad about standing by idly while blood of our neighbors is shed.

[TexasFreeper2009]

imagine if such laws had been used against the civil rights protestors

This is cut and dry 1st amendment violation.

[linMcHlp]

FACE

A politically-correct “crime” that is not a crime.

- - -

The crime is:

the FACE act demands the silence of our First Amendment that is supposed to protect people from government.

[George from New England]

And the MSM will MAKE SURE their audiences NEVER HEAR ANY OF THIS.

[frog in a pot]

This is cut and dry 1st amendment violation.

Not sure what you mean.

Is "physically blocking access to the clinic" because they disagreed with the clinic's lawful operation a 1stAmend. right?

[frank ballenger]

A pro-life woman interviewed in a different city said the previous year the cops had read off a list of the specifics of the laws and she said this year she followed every item to the letter.

They still arrested her as having the “unspoken intent” of “later” going in to block women in the hallways and confront them. She never even entered the building and stayed in the outer parking lot where the cops went out to arrest her and put her in jail before her trial.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I thought they were simply praying on the sidewalk

[TexasFreeper2009]

oh, your are correct. This is not the case I was thinking of. They were blocking the entrance, which is different than the case I was thinking about where they were simply praying nearby on the sidewalk

[NWFree]

While the murderers walk free

[Gary from Dayton]

“ Is “physically blocking access to the clinic” because they disagreed with the clinic’s lawful operation a 1stAmend. right?”

Blocking highways in the name of the environment seems to be a first amendment right for some.

[Liz]

In 2004, the stunning actress, Jennifer O'Neill (Summer of '42) wrote and published "From Fallen to Forgiven," biographical notes and thoughts about life and existence.

O'Neill recounted how she underwent an abortion at age 22. Her regrets over the experience contributed to her becoming an anti-abortion activist and a born-again Christian in 1986 at age 38.

She writes: "I was told a lie from the pit of hell: that my baby was just a blob of tissue. The aftermath of abortion can be equally deadly for both mother and unborn child. A woman who has an abortion is sentenced to bear that for the rest of her life."

O'Neill continues to be an inspirational speaker, and fundraiser for crisis pregnancy centers across the United States. She has also served as the spokesperson for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, for people who regret having abortions. She also began counseling abstinence to teens.

[sergeantdave]

Time to resurrect the underground railroad to protect people from the 50 IQ Washington fascists.

[KrisKrinkle]

Why is this a Federal Law? What’s the Constitutional basis?

[frog in a pot]

Blocking highways in the name of the environment seems to be a first amendment right for some.

It would seem that way. Standing "O" to the LEO's that drove through their junk and scattered them before arresting them.

[Liz]

On the left: an illegal alien gesturing obscenely;part of a violent mob on tape
viciously attacking a NYPD officer; got off scott free, released without bail.

On the right is a father of 11, convicted in federal court
of praying at an abortion mill facing 11 years in jail.

[Pontiac]

Four pro-life activists have been convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and now face prison time and thousands of dollars in fines.

Calling an abattoir a clinic seems a bit of a stretch.

[lastchance]

I bet DOJ is now getting ready to go after church arsonists. Right?

[Liz]

Source: Citizen Free Press

Pro-life Democrat, a Nebraska state senator, punished by Democrats for being pro-life, switches to Republican party, giving Republicans 33 senators and a filibuster-proof majority.

This will be incredibly important to Trump in the coming battle to fix the Nebraska electoral college quirk, that could win the election for Trump.

Nebraska’s unicameral legislature now has a filibuster proof Republican majority as Sen. Mike McDonnell switches parties from Dem to Rep.

This has massive implications for passing LB764, which would switch Nebraska to a winner-take-all electoral college state and BLOCK Joe Biden’s easiest path to the presidency.

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McDonnell Switches Parties Statement

State Sen. Mike McDonnell tells NCN, “Today I am changing my party affiliation to Republican,” adding the Democratic Party has “decided to punish me for being Pro-Life.” So far no word on his future political plans.