Another elderly pro-life activist sentenced to two years in prison – Eurasia Review

By Joe Bukuras

Paulette Harlow, an elderly woman with a debilitating health condition, was sentenced Friday to 24 months in prison after being convicted last November of participating in a pro-life blockade of an abortion clinic in Washington, DC in 2020.

Harlow of Kingston, Massachusetts, 75, was convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and of civil rights conspiracy, a law that prohibits the violation of human rights. a person guaranteed to him by the Constitution and law of the United States.

The FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, harmful, and obstructive conduct intended to harm, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

Harlow was sentenced by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly serving in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the same judge who presided over and sentenced each of the eight other protesters convicted in the case.

Unlike some of her co-defendants, Harlow was allowed to remain under house arrest while awaiting sentencing due to her health problems, her attorney, Allen Orenberg, told CNA last November.

At the time, Orenberg declined to elaborate on Harlow's health issues. Orenberg could not be reached for comment Friday.

The DC blockade

The blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic was filmed by Josh Darnel, 42, one of the protesters who was also convicted and is serving a 34-month prison sentence.

In the more than an hour and 30 minute video of the protest, some of those who were seated inside the clinic can be seen chained together, praying the rosary and singing hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary while refusing to leave when the police asked them to do so.

“Pro-life rescuers walk through the doors of an abortion clinic and save babies from death. It’s very risky for rescuers, but it’s time we get serious about ending abortion,” the video’s description reads.

The DOJ released a statement Friday saying, “As the evidence at trial showed, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to create a blockade of the Reproductive Health Care Clinic in order to prevent the clinic from providing and patients to receive reproductive health services. »

“As part of the conspiracy, numerous defendants traveled to Washington, D.C., from various states in the Northeast and Midwest, to meet with Lauren Handy and participate in a clinic blockade led by Handy and broadcast on Facebook,” it says. the press release.

The pro-life protesters “forced their way into the clinic and began blocking two doors to the clinic using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes,” the statement said.

In addition to Harlow and Darnel, Harlow's sister, Jean Marshall, 74, was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Also sentenced: Heather Idoni, 59 years old (24 months imprisonment); Lauren practical, 30 years old; John Hinshaw, 69; William Goodman, 54 years old (27 months imprisonment); Joan Bell, 76 years old (27 months of imprisonment); and Herb Geraghty, 27 years old (27 months in prison).

Smith, 34, pleaded guilty to a felony charge under the FACE Act in March of last year and was sentenced to ten months in prison.

Handy received the harshest sentence of almost six years in prison. Hinshaw received the least prison time. He pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.