Pro-Life Activist Sentenced To Nearly Five Years In Prison

Abortion has nearly been abolished in Texas with the number of abortions performed in the state at only 40. While ideally, that number would be zero, it’s still a drastic improvement from where the state was just a few years ago. For abortion to be outlawed in the state and Roe v. Wade to be overturned federally, activists had to make their voices heard. Lauren Handy, a pro-life activist based out of Washington D.C., was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

The sentencing comes from an incident in 2020 that Handy was involved in. She led a group of protestors inside of an abortion facility and blockaded the entrance. Some of the babies found were believed to be post-birth abortions, which is a crime in any state, yet this was never investigated. She was charged with violating the “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act” as well as a conspiracy against rights charge. 

The judge made a statement saying she was being charged for her actions, not her beliefs in an attempt to make the court appear nonbiased on the issue of abortion. One of Handy’s lawyers, Steve Crampton, had a number of things to say about the sentencing:

"This is not the America I know. Not only did the judge read out this really harsh sentence, but she had the audacity to lecture Lauren Handy about her lack of compassion for the women who were going in to kill their children." 

He went on to make a comparison between Handy’s actions and the Palestine movement hitting college campuses saying,

 "The contrast here with the Pro-Palestine folks shutting down the colleges and even preventing graduation ceremonies, and blocking entire highways and interstates in addition to the ongoing attacks… yet there are virtually no ongoing investigations. I think there's kind of a palpable sense of selective prosecution elements that can't be ignored here."

In today’s America, people are punished for being unapologetically pro-life. The fight to save babies is still a massive point of contention at the federal level. Not even the most liberal European countries that progressives look to for comparison allow late-term abortions like many states do today. While abortion has been handled at the state level, we must continue to push U.S. legislators to protect life.