On Tuesday, the Federal District Court of Washington D.C. jury trial reached a verdict in the case against Lauren Handy, Will Goodman, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty, finding each of them guilty of both conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act violations in connection with a rescue action at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility in October of 2020. These activists are being held in prison while awaiting sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, released the following statement in reaction to the verdict:
“From the beginning, This trial has been a sham with a completely biased pro-abortion judge who has made a mockery of our justice system. This decision will be appealed, and we demand it be overturned. These activists are heroes, and the Department of Justice has acted capriciously and illegitimately. These charges stem from the FACE Act, which exists to target and chill the free speech of pro-life Americans. Their acts of bravery to protect innocent human life from notorious D.C. abortionist Cesare Santangelo have been punished by the corrupt DOJ. Santangelo’s Washington Surgi-Clinic is known for being a late-term abortion facility, surgically killing babies that are well past viability outside of their mother and Santangelo has even been caught on camera by Live Action stating his willingness to withhold medical care from infants born alive after a botched abortion, a violation of federal law.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused to admit into evidence the Live Action investigation video showing the abortionist Cesare Santangelo, in his own words, stating his willingness to let a living child outside of the womb die from neglect and lack of medical attention. This is also the same judge who recently suggested that the 13th Amendment to the constitution’s ban on “involuntary servitude” may confer a right to abortion, comparing the beauty of pregnancy and motherhood with the horror of slavery. I stand with these activists who have been unjustly convicted and demand authentic justice for these advocates working to end the barbaric killing of abortion.”
In response to Tuesday’s verdict in United States v. Handy, the case of pro-life advocates (including pro-life progressives) accused of blocking entrance to abortion facilities, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued the following statement:
“This is a shameful day for a nation founded on unalienable rights, first and foremost including life. Pro-life advocates like Lauren Handy have put their freedom on the line – peacefully and bravely – to protect babies and women from the brutality of abortion. They have done a vital public service in exposing the horrors of late-term abortion taking place in D.C., where there are no limits on abortion up to birth, and across the country. They have kept the memory of abortionist Cesare Santangelo’s victims alive, including five fully developed babies that were likely killed in illegal partial-birth abortions or delivered alive and left to die, then placed in a box and headed for the incinerator as ‘medical waste.’
“Instead of being recognized for their heroism, the most pro-abortion administration in history has weaponized the full power of the federal government against them – treating them like terrorists and threatening them with as many as 11 years in prison, all while the authorities turn a blind eye to Santangelo’s atrocities. The extreme pro-abortion bias on display throughout this trial – for instance, donors to abortion giant Planned Parenthood permitted to serve on the jury – shows that they were never going to get a fair hearing in Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s court. Wherever one stands on abortion, we should all be able to agree this is wrong and un-American.
“Violence against the defenseless and innocent can never be a ‘right’ – something the pioneers of feminism deeply understood. This is why abortion is the worst human rights abuse of our time and saving these irreplaceable lives is the most pressing human rights cause. We stand with all our allies who are persecuted because of their love for unborn children and their mothers. The fight is not over and we hope to see justice prevail.”
