Six individuals involved in a 2021 blockade of an abortion clinic in Tennessee each face possibilities of financial penalties up to $260,000 after a jury recently convicted the group of a pair of criminal offenses each. The group’s convictions include a felony conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). Tennessee, meanwhile, has since banned abortion in nearly all circumstances after the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade newly allowed state politicians to set their own standards for access.
“Evidence at trial further proved that the defendants violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction to interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient because the clinic was providing, and the patient sought, reproductive health services,” authorities said. “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,” Tennessee federal prosecutor Henry C. Leventis said Tuesday.
Besides the possibility for massive financial consequences, each defendant also faces a possibility of up to a decade in prison. “The defendants each face up to a maximum of 10 and a half years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $260,000,” a federal press release explained.
The defendants’ side characterized the nature of the original incident in dismissive terms. Per reporting from ABC News, attorney Steve Crampton described what took place as “a peaceful demonstration by entirely peaceable citizens — filled with prayer, hymn-singing, and worship.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke similarly. “Their “crime” was singing hymns, praying, and worshipping God to try to persuade women to not have an abortion,” she dismissively stated on X, the platform formerly called Twitter.
Though political figures on the Right frequently extrapolate from cases against conservatives to allege the justice system is uniquely biased against Republicans and their allies, there are active criminal investigations/cases implicating a son of the current president, a longtime Democratic Senator from the Northeast, and a Democratic Congresswoman from Missouri.
