6 pro-life activists convicted of FACE Act felonies, face over 10 years in prison
A devout Christian father of 11 children is facing prison time alongside five other pro-life activists after being convicted of violating a federal law against blocking access to abortion clinics.
A federal jury found Paul Vaughn guilty on Tuesday of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act when he and five others blocked access to an abortion facility in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in March 2021.
In addition to Vaughn, the other defendants found guilty of obstructing access to the Mount Juliet facility were Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Calvin Zastrow, Coleman Boyd and Dennis Green.
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A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 2. The six pro-life activists are facing up to 10.5 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine not to exceed $260,000.
"These defendants knowingly chose to violate laws they disagreed with," said U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee in a statement released Tuesday.
"The jury's verdict today is a victory for the rule of law in this country and a reminder that we cannot pick and choose which laws we follow. It is also a testament to the outstanding work done in this case by the trial team and our law enforcement partners."
The Thomas More Society, a religious liberty law firm that helped to represent Vaughn, has expressed disappointment with the jury decision and intends to appeal the verdict.
"This was a peaceful demonstration by entirely peaceable citizens — filled with prayer, hymn-singing, and worship — oriented toward persuading expecting mothers not to abort their babies," said TMS Senior Counsel Steve Crampton in a statement.
"Unfortunately, the Biden Department of Justice decided to characterize Paul Vaughn's peaceful actions as a felony' conspiracy against rights,' to intimidate and punish Paul and other pro-life people and people of faith."
Crampton described the jury decision as "a frustrating setback, for Paul, for his family, and for the extended pro-life community," adding that he believed the Biden administration's "pattern of arresting and prosecuting peaceful pro-life advocates is disturbing."
In October 2022, Vaughn was one of originally 11 people indicted for their blocking of the entrance to the Mount Juliet clinic, which was advertised by Gallagher and Boyd on social media.
Seven of the 11 defendants faced conspiracy charges under the FACE Act, while the remaining defendants were charged with misdemeanors that carried a punishment of up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannefelser released a statement at the time condemning the indictments as the latest example of "the Biden administration's egregious abuse of the Justice Department."
"Pro-abortion Democrats will stop at nothing to protect the abortion industry that spends millions to elect them while demonizing pro-life advocates working to save lives and turning a blind eye to violence against them," stated Dannenfelser in 2022.
The FACE Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, coming in response to a reported increase in violence against abortion facilities and personnel.
"We simply cannot — we must not — continue to allow the attacks, the incidents of arson, the campaigns of intimidation upon law-abiding citizens that has given rise to this law," said Clinton in 1994, as quoted by The New York Times.
"No person seeking medical care, no physician providing that care should have to endure harassments or threats or obstruction or intimidation or even murder from vigilantes who take the law into their own hands because they think they know what the law ought to be."
While often used against pro-life activists blocking entrance to abortion facilities, the FACE Act has been occasionally used to prosecute pro-choice vandals of pregnancy resource centers.
In 2023, for example, four individuals were indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for their alleged vandalizing of a pro-life pregnancy care center.
