Worthy Christian News > US News > Pro Life Activist Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years Imprisonment for Clinic Blockade

Pro Life Activist Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years Imprisonment for Clinic Blockade

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A pro-life activist with a history of organizing blockades of abortion clinics has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for leading the blockade of an abortion facility in Washington, DC, in 2020.

Activist Lauren Handy was convicted following a jury trial in Aug. 2023 of civil rights conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act offenses for her role in planning and executing a blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic on Oct. 22, 2020.

Federal prosecutors told the court that Handy and nine co-defendants “used social media to livestream a planned ‘lock-and-block,’ during which they used force and physical obstructions to interfere with access to the clinic.”

Recommending a 63-78 months prison term, prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum: “Despite a history of arrests and local prosecutions for participating in clinic invasions throughout the country, Handy has not been deterred from violating federal laws. Handy not only capitalized on her victimization of vulnerable victims, but she also promoted and publicized her crimes.”

On May 13, Clinton-appointee US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Handy to 57 months in prison, three years probation following her jail term, and a monetary fine. “The law does not protect violent nor obstructive conduct, nor should it…Your views took precedence over, frankly, [the women’s] human needs,” Kollar-Kotelly said in court.

Condemning the sentence, Thomas More Society attorneys representing Handy said in a statement: “For her efforts to peacefully protect the lives of innocent preborn human beings, Ms. Handy deserves thanks, not a gut-wrenching prison sentence. We will vigorously pursue an appeal of Ms. Handy’s conviction and attack the root cause of this injustice, that is, the FACE Act—which we believe is unconstitutional and should never again be used to persecute peaceful pro-lifers.”