January 6th defendants weren’t the only political prisoners of the last four years.
The background story behind President Donald Trump’s pardon of 23 pro life activists is something decidedly alien to the American experience, at least pre-Biden.
After the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling came down back in June 2022, the Biden Administration prosecuted multiple pro-life activists pursuant to the federal Freedom of Access to Clinics (FACE) Act signed into law by Bill Clinton in the early 1990s. First-time offenders stared down the possibility of one year in prison. Some defendants were also charged with Conspiracy Against Rights and, as a result, faced ten more years behind bars.
This week, Congressman Chris Smith (R, NJ-04) applauded President Trump for pardoning the peaceful pro-life activists who were discriminated against by the Biden Administration.
“At the behest of progressive activists, the Biden Administration blatantly weaponized the power of federal law enforcement against peaceful pro-life advocates because their beliefs conflicted with President Biden’s radical abortion agenda,” said Smith who serves as co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. “I am grateful that President Trump has restored justice, ending an ugly era of discrimination against peaceful, often times prayerful pro-life dissenters.”
Smith long advocated for the newly pardoned pro-lifers, even raising the alarm over reports that some elderly prisoners were allegedly denied needed medical treatment.
“Today, freedom rings in our great nation. The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden’s Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal, and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place,” said Steve Crampton, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel. “These heroic peaceful pro-lifers were treated shamefully by Biden’s DOJ, with many of them branded felons and losing many rights that we take for granted as American citizens. Today, their precious freedom is restored. What happened to them can never be erased, but today’s pardons are a huge step towards restoring justice. Thank you to President Trump and his team for righting these grievous wrongs of the previous administration.”
