Four pro-lifers who peacefully protested outside an abortion clinic in Nashville, Tennessee two years ago, were found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act Tuesday and now face a year in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
On March 5, 2021, Eva Edl, Eva Zastrow, James Zastrow, and Paul Place gathered in the hallway of a second-floor office building outside the Carafem abortion facility. The pro-lifers prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic to not get abortions. According to federal prosecutors, this was a serious crime.
The pro-lifers were accused of violating the 1994 FACE Act which prohibits:
“…by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services…”
The pro-lifers defense “argued that the DOJ never proved they had actually blocked anyone from entering or actually inhibited the activities of the staff of the facility,” reported the Daily Wire. Nevertheless, Middle District of Tennessee Magistrate Judge Chip Frensly found them guilty, and the pro-lifers now await their sentencing on July 30. After the convictions, the defendants and their families reportedly went outside the courthouse to sing and pray.
Six other peaceful pro-lifers were convicted of conspiracy against civil rights and FACE Act violations in January and currently face 11 years in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines.
The FACE Act does not just address abortion facilities, however. The law also criminalizes the “interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship,” and the act of “intentionally damag[ing] or destroy[ing] the property of a place of religious worship.”
During the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this week, pro-Palestine protesters infiltrated the church and disrupted the service. While these individuals appear guilty of violating the FACE Act, there has been no indication from Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) that federal authorities plan on prosecuting them.
New York City — At evening mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on March 30 just before Easter, leftist protesters tried shutting down the event. pic.twitter.com/3iVEYnF86c
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 31, 2024
It's unlikely the pro-Palestine protesters will face any kind of punishment, given that the DOJ has already proven it is a two-tiered system of justice. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, rioters violated the FACE Act by vandalizing countless churches. Yet none of the Marxist rioters faced federal consequences. Likewise, in violation of the FACE Act, several pro-life pregnancy centers were vandalized and even firebombed after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but the anti-life terrorists who carried out the attacks never faced justice.
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