Pro-lifers face 11 years in jail after peaceful clinic protest

Six pro-life activists were found guilty Tuesday of “conspiracy against rights” and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) after a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021 and now face up to 11 years in jail and up to a $250,000 fine.

They will be sentenced in July but also plan to appeal the verdict.

The activists had gathered on the second floor of the facility to pray and talk to women entering the facility to have abortions.

They claim they did not block anyone's access to the clinic.

Four more activists were only charged with the FACE Act violation, which is a misdemeanor and carries a one-year maximum sentence. That case has not yet gone to trial.

“We are, of course, disappointed with the outcome,” Steve Crampton, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel and attorney for Paul Vaughn, said. “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. 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.”