Pro-Life Activist Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Protesting Outside Late-Term Abortion Facility

A pro-life activist who was previously found guilty of “illegally blockading an abortion clinic” has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Pro-life activist Lauren Handy was convicted by a Federal jury in Washington, D.C., for violating the FACE Act.

The FACE Act is a federal law that prohibits anyone from preventing or threatening a person seeking an abortion at a reproductive health service clinic.

In October 2020, Handy and four other pro-life activists participated in a protest at late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo’s clinic.

Handy was sentenced to 57 months in prison, and U.S. Senior District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that she will receive credit for the nine months she has already served.

🇺🇲 #BREAKING: Anti-abortion activist, Lauren Handy, who led the blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic on Oct. 22, 2020 sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/qhXayoMaCD

— SVS NEWS AGENCY (@svsnewsagency) May 14, 2024

Here’s what Newsmax reported:

A pro-life advocate found guilty of illegally blockading an abortion clinic was sentenced Tuesday to more than 4½ years in federal prison, Newsmax’s Logan Ratick reported.

Lauren Handy was convicted by a Washington, D.C., federal jury on Aug. 29, of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), a 1994 law that prohibits threats to and obstruction of a person seeking reproductive health services or providers.

U.S. Senior District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Handy to 57 months, though she will get credit for roughly nine months time served.

Handy and her co-defendants faced a potential sentence of up to 11 years.

The Justice Department, in an April 12 filing, had recommended Handy serve up to 6½ years in federal prison, WUSA 9 reported. Prosecutors said she was the leader of the group.

The Justice Department pursued charges against Handy and her co-defendants, who have been committed to nonviolence, despite not prosecuting demonstrators who protested the George Floyd killing by firebombing police stations and vehicles.

Lauren Handy was just sentenced to 57 months in prison for protesting in front of an abortion clinic.

Meanwhile most BLM rioters and looters had their charges dropped after they burned down our country for 6 months and caused billions in damage.

2-tiered justice system. pic.twitter.com/rjRVGAWbus

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 14, 2024

Per AP:

An anti-abortion activist who led others on an invasion and blockade of a reproductive health clinic in the nation’s capital was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly five years in prison.

Lauren Handy, 30, was among several people convicted of federal civil rights offenses for blockading access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic on Oct. 22, 2020. Police found five fetuses at Handy’s home in Washington after she was indicted.

A clinic nurse sprained her ankle when one of Handy’s co-defendants forced his way into the clinic and pushed her. Another co-defendant accosted a woman who was having labor pains, preventing her from getting off a floor and entering the clinic, prosecutors said.

Inside the clinic’s waiting room, Handy directed blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains and block the doors. A co-defendant used social media to livestream the blockade, which lasted several hours before police arrested the participants.