(LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. government and the Washington, D.C., jurors who convicted Will Goodman to a possible 11 years in prison had no idea who they were dealing with. Who was this man seen walking around in the security video at the Washington Surgi-Clinic sprinkling Holy Water and praying on his knees?
They had no idea who they were dealing with when they convicted Heather Idoni, who confounded belligerent prosecutor Sanjay Patel by repeatedly talking about the Holy Spirit.
They had no idea who they were dealing with when they convicted Herb Geraghty, who was grilled and mocked on the witness stand for 3 1/2 hours by Patel, and who refused the government’s plea deal and cooperation agreement.
They had no idea who they were dealing with when they convicted the gentle-spirited John Hinshaw, who quietly sat in the corner of the waiting room at the office of the most notorious late-term abortionist in America, refusing to allow babies to be murdered that day.
And they surely had no idea who they were dealing with in Lauren Handy — the woman who, along with Terrisa Bukovinac, found the bodies of five aborted full-term babies in a medical waste trash can at the Washington Surgi-Clinic and who has devoted her life to ending the practice of infanticide.
The arrest and conviction of these devoted pro-life activists is a deeply disturbing example of the all-out war being waged in America on peaceful pro-life activists, who in recent months have been savagely beaten on the street in Baltimore and run over by a Michigan abortionist in his car. Other beatings have occurred in Prince George County, Maryland and in Greenville, South Carolina. No arrests have been made in any of these cases, where the victims have all been elderly men and women.
Make no mistake, access to abortion at all stages of pregnancy is the number one priority of the Democratic Party and the apparatus of President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, including the FBI, whose agents were in court every day during the trial, the outcome of which was never in doubt.
FBI field agent Michael Biscardi proudly stated in testimony that he had exchanged phone numbers with a staff member at Washington Surgi-Clinic. What would average Americans, living outside the enlightened, urbane environs of Washington, D.C., think about their tax dollars supporting and protecting a man who mutilates full-term babies? Biscardi seemed to delight in describing his surveillance of the defendants, confidently identifying each one in court as you would call out to well-known acquaintances. Throughout the trial, Biscardi bantered with prosecutors and joked with his FBI cohorts, no doubt pleased with his contribution towards protecting so-called “reproductive health rights” and enforcing law and order at the Washington Surgi-Clinic.
In today’s Democratic Party, and in most major cities of the United States, abortion is sacred, surmounting every other cause. Many of the Washington, D.C., jurors freely admitted that they supported Planned Parenthood and yet remained as “fair and impartial” jurors. They reached a unanimous verdict in less than eight hours. These are people who live in a different America from the five defendants now locked up with common criminals in the Alexandria, Virginia city jail. Two of the defendants identify as LGBT, but as fearless anti-abortion activists they are pariahs among the sophisticated Washingtonian Democrats, despite all the latter’s talk about love, science, and respect for law and order.
The man they labeled a violent criminal and sent directly to jail before his sentencing is in fact one of the gentlest souls and deeply intelligent Catholics I have met. Watching Will Goodman being swarmed under by U.S. Marshals, handcuffed, and escorted away was one of the most debased things I have ever witnessed. For some reason, Will was the only defendant handcuffed. Moments earlier, I asked Will if he wanted to make a statement. He urged LifeSiteNews readers to “Forgive the jury, the judge, the prosecution and all the witnesses who testified against us … and to pray that they would see how God loves the gift of every human life.”
Before coming to court on his last day of freedom, Will and his Catholic attorney made a pilgrimage to six Catholic churches, stopping to pray in each one. He sat reading his Bible when Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly announced that she had “no discretion” in whether to sentence them to jail immediately. Will’s tattered, paperback Bible was left open on the table as he was led away.
Outside the courtroom, eight black-clad Department of Homeland Security police officers were standing by, apparently concerned that some of the elderly pro-life supporters would perform an act of domestic terrorism. Where were these public servants when the defendants attempted to stop more babies from being slaughtered?
The lasting, most chilling image for me came from the body-cam video of the Metropolitan Police officer who asked Heather Idoni to move away from the employee door entrance to allow a distraught pregnant woman to enter the clinic. The young lady was in the latest stages of pregnancy. Idoni looked down the hallway at her, then looked directly at the police officer, and resolutely stated, “Look at her baby. It has so much life in it.” Heather did not budge, but tragically the young mother crawled through the receptionist’s window moments later and presumably went through with ending the life of her child. The young woman who testified as a government witness under the pseudonym Ashley Jones will never be the same, and the child that she sacrificed will never have a name, or any rights whatsoever.
Lauren, Heather, John, Herb, and Will knew this, and they were willing to put their lives on the line to protect that innocent child. The baby probably died as police officers and FBI agents stood nearby, investigating the “crimes” being committed by these heroic pro-life activists.
“Lauren’s real offense was not going inside that abortion clinic,” Thomas More attorney Stephen Crampton said. “It was her refusal to be silent in the face of ongoing and pervasive evil. And if they think that incarcerating her is going to silence her, I think they’ve got another thing coming.”
And the same is true for the other four defendants. The people who want them to go away simply don’t know who they are dealing with, and for that, I praise God.