(LifeSiteNews) — On September 11, 2024, the 23rd anniversary of crazed Islamic terrorists taking down the Twin Towers and killing more than a few of my fellow parishioners, I found myself being moved into a federal prison camp, the victim of a jihad launched by the US Government. Both jihads were launched against Christians: the first by Islamists, and this second one by the secularists.
But even in transit, there is opportunity to witness for life. Let me tell you this true story from my transit.
On my way out of Alexandria, Virginia in August, after a year in federal custody there, I was taken to the notorious Washington, DC jail for the night, so as to board the prison bus early in the morning to take me to the federal transit camp in Pennsylvania.
When the two federal marshals arrived the next morning and began to chain my wrists, waist and ankles for my trip, the lead marshal said:
“What are you in for?”
He shortly regretted asking.
“Oh,” I said. “I was doing pro-life rescuing at a notorious abortion mill in Washington, DC. The guy does abortions right up to birth and even executes after birth.”
“Oh, a clinic?” he asked.
“No, there’s nothing medical practiced there; he just kills babies,” I said. “That’s not a clinic.”
He ended the discussion with the lawman’s finality, letting me know the conversation was over:
“Whatever.”
Some minutes later, though, as we took the long, slow walk through the jail toward the exit, he engaged in conversation again:
“How much is your sentence?”
“Twenty-one months” I told him. “Almost served a year so far.”
It seemed clear to me that he was having difficulty reconciling the treatment I was receiving to a peaceful protest. So next he said,
“You were violent?”
“Never. We never engage in violence,” I said quickly, having anticipated this question. “We were attacked by the staff with a weapon, but we did not respond. Civil disobedience used to be acknowledged with respect in this country. Nobody ever got years in jail for it. I notice the Hamas people are doing it all over right now without facing prosecution.”
After a pause, I quietly continued.
“So we get years in jail because the federal government has declared jihad on pro-lifers.”
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He didn’t like the use of the word “jihad” and repeated it with a sour expression on his face.
“You know,” I said for emphasis, “we found five full-term babies in this guy’s dumpster? Nobody’s investigating that, but we’re sent to jail while he’s still killing.”
A voice then came from behind me.
“Oh, is that Handy – Miss Handy?”
My head whirled around in one of those gratifying moments when just a word lets you know that someone was listening to you.
Standing there was a third federal marshal, a man whom I had met earlier in the jail. He wasn’t coming on the bus with us but was along to help until I left.
“Yes, Lauren Handy was with me on the rescue and she was sentenced to FIVE YEARS!” I said. “She’s the one who found those babies.”
“Yeah,” the third marshal said. “I was in the court when she was sentenced.”
He turned toward the other two marshals and continued.
“Yeah, she gave a very moving statement to the Court. She said she didn’t regret her actions on that day because she was acting to save babies.”
I shut up to allow him full scope. “Testify,” I thought silently. “Carry the flame she gave you.”
“She said she had seen and heard about what this guy was doing and was compelled to do something,” he continued. “She told the judge that nothing the Court could do to her could cause her to regret her actions, nor would it prevent future actions.”
The buzzer sounded and I walked into the outer offices of the prison to complete paperwork before boarding the bus. I stepped up to the window to sign a few papers while the three marshals stood waiting a few yards behind me. But I could still hear him telling the story:
“That was very powerful. The whole court could feel it. You have to respect that kind of commitment.”
And then – the payoff:
The lead marshal, the man who had started the conversation with me, and whom I quickly annoyed, said:
“Yeah, well, sometimes that’s what it takes to produce change.”
Alleluia. Amen!
READ: Infanticide motivated rescue attempt at DC center, Lauren Handy testifies at FACE Act trial
The third marshal headed back toward the cell units before I finished and stepped back from the window.
“Go with God, brother,” I whispered in my head. “Thank you.”
I know a little bit more about this third marshal than I have told here, but since the DOJ thugs who sent us to jail are his bosses, I will tell you no more about him.
One of the aims of our federal “justice” system has been to separate us pro-life prisoners from each other. We are each in separate prison camps in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, and Washington, DC. Part of that planned separation was drawn out at our sentencing. We have been given disparate sentences from 21 months for me to 56 months for Lauren, with different ones in between. We each had individual sentencings and were not allowed into the court for the sentencing of our friends. Lauren Handy was sentenced in the court session just prior to my sentencing in the same court. Thus, I had not heard her courageous statement. Now I have heard it at the best time from the best possible source.
Throughout this living witness, we, the Garland Nine, continue to receive divine direction even in our limited interaction and sensory events. Frequently they speak to us in the limited books made available to us. So, at the time of my first arriving here in Massachusetts, the time of my first beginning this article, I find this musing from the late Pope Benedict XVI on the 2nd Beautitude:
At the foot of Jesus’ Cross, we understand better than anywhere else what it means to say “blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Those who do not harden their hearts to the pain and need of others, who do not give evil entry to their souls, but suffer under its power and also acknowledge the Truth of God – they are the ones who open the windows of the world to let the light in. It is to those who mourn in this sense that consolation is promised.
Is not Pope Benedict testifying to the great cause and heroic actions of Lauren Handy? It is she who still mourns the dead babies, whose bodies she held in her own hands after digging them out of Santangelo’s dumpster, thus opening the eyes of the world to their supremely valuable yet discarded lives. She has not hardened her heart to the pain and need of others and has allowed no entry of evil into her soul. She suffers under that evil while acknowledging the Truth of God. She is one who “opens the eyes of the world to let the light in.”
I have been very fortunate to have known many great pro-life women during these last 50 years. Lauren Handy stands within their company.
And I will stand with her again.
Anytime.
John Hinshaw is serving a custodial sentence for attempting to save the lives of babies in a late-term abortion business in Washington, D.C., an undertaking a court found was in violation of the FACE Act. Letters to John should be addressed:
JOHN HINSHAWRegister #93685-509FMC DevensFederal Medical CenterP.O. BOX 879Ayer, MA 01432