Four pro-life activists were found guilty this week after being charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for peacefully protesting an abortion clinic in 2021.
Eva Edl, Eva Zastrow, James Zastrow, and Paul Place face six months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines after a one-day bench trial in Tennessee. This means the defendant's fate was placed in the hands of Middle District of Tennessee Magistrate Judge Chip Frensly who deliberated for less than an hour before ruling the four pro-life advocates were guilty.
Immediately after the verdict was reached, the defendants joined a group of supporters who gathered outside of the courthouse to sing and pray for them.
Some of them sang hymns such as, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
Christian pro-lifers sing hymns after conviction on FACE Act charges in Nashville pic.twitter.com/WduAxXZKsF
— Leif Le Mahieu (@leif_lemahieu) April 3, 2024
In October 2022, President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice charged 11 pro-life activists for allegedly terrorizing and interfering “with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services” at an abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
However, according to attorneys for the group, the pro-life activists peacefully prayed, sang, and encouraged women to change their minds about abortion.
One of the lawyers, Kyle Boynton said that the four were “not on trial for their beliefs,” but for their actions.
Place’s attorney argued that the charges against the four pro-life advocates were an overreach by the federal government, adding that the DOJ was prosecuting “people who were simply expressing their beliefs in a non-violent way.”
All 11 were charged with violating the FACE Act. Meanwhile, seven of them were charged with a civil rights conspiracy, which resulted in the defendants facing heavier sentencing.
Prosecutors displayed photos of the four people sitting in front of the door to the abortion clinic, however, their lawyers argued that the DOJ failed to provide proof that they were blocking women or staff from entering the building.