Three pro-life activists were convicted on July 30 of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for their role in the 2021 blockade of an abortion clinic in Tennessee.
According to ABC News, James Zastrow, Eva Zastrow and Paul Place were all sentenced to 90 days of house arrest followed by three years of probation. The trio were involved in an incident in 2021 in which they peacefully protested by sitting outside the main entrance of a Carafem abortion clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. They were convicted in April of violating the FACE Act and faced up to six months in prison.
According to an April press release from the Justice Department, none of the defendants acted aggressively during the incident.
“The defendants and others occupied the interior corridor of the clinic,” the press release said. “These defendants positioned themselves directly in front of the main door of the clinic for over two hours and blocked access to the clinic so that no patients could enter the clinic. The police repeatedly asked the defendants to leave or to move away, but after more than two hours these defendants were arrested.”
Pro-life activist Paul Vaughn, who participated in the same pro-life action, was sentenced to three years of probation without prison on July 2. His lawyer stated at the time: “The weaponized, evidence-free charges brought here by the Biden Department of Justice against peaceful pro-life activists should never have been brought. … We will continue to work tirelessly for pro-life activists like Paul to ensure that the FACE Act is never again weaponized by the Department of Justice against its ideological opponents.”
In total, 11 people were charged with involvement in the incident, including six who were found guilty of conspiracy in addition to violations of the FACE Act for their role in organizing the protest. Four of those six have already been convicted, with only one receiving a prison sentence. Sentencing for the other two, Heather Idoni and Chester Gallagher, has been postponed as they also face trial on similar charges in Michigan this month.
The sentencing of Eva Edl, an 89-year-old pro-life activist and concentration camp survivor who was also convicted of violating the FACE Act during the same protest, has been postponed until the end of August.
Overall, the sentences for those involved in this incident were far less severe than those given to pro-life activists convicted under the FACE Act and conspiracy to engage in activism at a Washington, DC abortion clinic.
The Justice Department put a pro-life activist in prison for protesting the killing of unborn children. Please take 30 seconds to tell Congress: STOP THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FROM TARGETTING AMERICANS WHO CHOOSE TO LIFE.
