On January 23, 2025, President Donald J. Trump granted pardons for 23 pro-life advocates who faced weaponized prosecutions brought against them by the Biden Department of Justice under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Earlier this month, Thomas More Society attorneys submitted to the Trump administration formal requests for presidential pardons on behalf of 21 of those pro-life advocates who have been unjustly prosecuted, convicted, and in several cases, imprisoned, by the Biden DOJ. The following were the peaceful pro-life advocates on behalf of whom Thomas More Society submitted pardon requests: 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.
In their letter submitted to President Donald J. Trump, Thomas More Society attorneys urged “that these pro-life Americans are deserving of full and unconditional pardons.” The communicated pardon request package included 21 individual pardon requests, one for each pro-life advocate, outlining the specific facts of each case, their upstanding personal and moral character, and the reasons why President Trump should grant a presidential pardon.
“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,” added Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation. “What happened to these peaceful pro-life individuals must never happen again. 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.”
Trump, who will begin his second term on Monday, had pledged to grant some form of clemency to pro-life prisoners of conscience.
“To reverse these cruel travesties of justice, tonight I’m announcing that the moment I win the election, I will appoint a special task force to rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration … so that I can study the situation very quickly and sign their pardons or commutations on day one,” he announced at the 2023 Pray Vote Stand Summit, organized by Family Research Council Action. He also said, under his watch, “never again will the federal government be used to target religious believers.”
Trump has since repeated that promise elsewhere. Last February, before the National Religious Broadcasters, Trump lamented the plight of “pro-life activists … convicted on outrageous charges” in Nashville, where the speech took place. In a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition last June, Trump highlighted the case of Paulette Harlow, a 76-year-old with severe medical issues whose judge mocked her faith.
https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/news/president-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-justice-department-under-the-face-act
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