WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The law firm representing Lauren Handy, one of several of the pro-life activists found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, has announced that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has “denied” their motion to have the 29-year-old Handy released from pre-sentencing detention.
“JUST NOW: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has DENIED our Emergency Motion to release Lauren Handy from pre-sentencing detention. We have immediately filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. More to come,” the pro-life Thomas More Society legal firm posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.
🚨JUST NOW: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has DENIED our Emergency Motion to release Lauren Handy from pre-sentencing detention. We have immediately filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. More to come. #USvHandy https://t.co/xxiqsT47If
— Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) August 31, 2023
As LifeSiteNews has extensively reported, five anti-abortion activists – Lauren Handy, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty – have stood trial over the past week for blocking access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic in downtown Washington, D.C., in a “traditional rescue” in October 2020. Pro-life “rescues” involve activists physically intervening to try to stop women from going through with abortions.
On Tuesday, a Washington, D.C. jury found the five pro-life activists guilty of conspiracy against rights and violating the FACE Act, LifeSiteNews reported at the time.
All five were immediately incarcerated following the verdict because their actions to physically block the abortuary were considered a “crime of violence.” The activists could face more than a decade in prison for their efforts to prevent women from killing their preborn babies.
Prosecutors said the defendants violated the FACE Act when they made use of “physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.”
The FACE Act (18 U.S.C. § 248(a)(3)) prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”
Starting September 6, the remaining five activists will stand trial for the same October, 2020 rescue in Washington, D.C. LifeSiteNews will continue reporting on these important cases.
As with their colleagues, if convicted, they could each face 11 years in prison plus three years of supervised release and up to $350,000 in fines.