CV NEWS FEED // Sentencing hearings for nine pro-life advocates are set to commence Tuesday.
The defendants – often called “rescuers” by fellow members of the pro-life movement – partook in a 2020 peaceful protest against a notorious Washington, D.C. abortuary that performed late-term abortions.
Last year, all nine were found guilty of violating the controversial Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. They each face a sentence of up to 11 years in federal prison.
Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotely will preside over the hearings, which are slated to take place at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia just a few blocks from the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, May 14, Kollar-Kotely is scheduled to sentence Lauren Handy at 9:00 a.m., John Hinshaw at 10:30 a.m., and Will Goodman at 3:00 p.m. All times are in Eastern Daylight Time.
Handy, a Catholic, is a well-known pro-life voice on the political left. She was the primary organizer and leader of the peaceful protest that led to the ongoing court cases.
The sentencings will continue on Wednesday, May 15, with Herb (born Rosemary) Geraghty at 9:00 a.m., Jonathan Darnel at 11:00 a.m., Jean Marshall at 1:30 p.m., and Joan Andrews Bell at 3:00 p.m.
On Friday, May 17, the judge is scheduled to sentence Heather Idoni at 9:30 a.m.
Kollar-Kotely was also originally going to sentence the final defendant, Paulette Harlow, on Friday. However, Harlow’s sentencing was postponed until two weeks later on Friday, May 31, at 1:30 p.m.
>> AUGUST: ‘SHAM AND BIASED’ TRIAL RESULTS IN CONVICTION OF PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES <<
LifeSiteNews reported last week that “[e]ight of the nine defendants are being held in federal custody at the Alexandria Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia, and the ninth is under house arrest.”
“During their nine-month incarceration, several of the prisoners have already suffered serious mistreatment that meets the definition of torture both according to American law and international standards,” according to LifeSite:
Heather Idoni, 59, was placed in prolonged solitary confinement for 22 days and deprived of sleep with the lights of her cell kept on continually. The mother of five and adopted mother of 10 was forced to appear in full shackles in federal court in March 2024 for a pre-trial hearing in a manner usually reserved for dangerous or violent criminals.
Jean Marshall, 74, was deprived of sufficient clothing and heat during extreme freezing winter cold, resulting in the contracting of pneumonia, which went untreated for three weeks. She has been denied an urgently needed hip surgery, contrary to her physician’s instructions, resulting in excruciating pain and debilitating use of her right leg.
LifeSite’s report added: “Paulette Harlow, 75, a devout Catholic, has been refused allowance to attend Mass at a Catholic Church while under house arrest despite her express request to the judge while in court.”
>> SEPTEMBER: TRUMP PROMISES TO PARDON LAUREN HANDY AND CO-DEFENDANTS <<
Defendant Will Goodman told LifeSite that he is “trying to cultivate what St. Ignatius describes as ‘holy indifference’” as his sentencing looms.
“I don’t care what happens. Whatever transpires, it will be an opportunity to try to love and serve and obey God,” Goodman told the publication. “I simply want to try to do my best in following His will. So whatever happens will be for my good.”
In a column for LifeSite, defendant John Hinshaw wrote: “The fact is that from Thoreau through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. all the way to the recent pro-Hamas demonstrations, NEVER have peaceful civil disobedience faced such legal violence as our federal law enforcement is now practicing!”
He added: “From the abolitionists, the suffragettes, the civil rights movement, anti-Vietnam war protests, anti-nuclear protests, climate alarmists, and even the ‘mostly peaceful’ riots of 2020, NO ONE was threatened with 11 years!!!”
Starting on May 5, Hinshaw’s niece Clare Hinshaw has been praying a daily Novena to St. Jude for her uncle and posting the prayer to X.
“Uncle John’s sentencing will be at 10 am May 14,” the younger Hinshaw wrote on the social media platform:
I’m starting a novena to St. Jude today that the Lord would soften the judge’s heart. I’ll be posting the prayers each day if you’d like to join me. And, of course, any prayers for this intention would be much appreciated!
On August 29, 2023, CatholicVote reported: “After a drama-filled trial, five pro-life advocates were found guilty of violating an almost three-decade-old federal law that has been used to prevent pro-lifers from exercising their right to free speech.”
CatholicVote continued:
The five defendants—Lauren Handy, William Goodman, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty— were each found guilty “for conspiracy against the right to reproductive health services” and for violating the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Lila Rose, president of Live Action, a pro-life organization, called the trial a “sham.”
“This trial has been a sham with a biased pro-abortion judge who has made a mockery of our justice system,” said Rose. “This decision will be appealed, & we demand it be overturned.”
The other four co-defendants currently awaiting sentencing were convicted later in the year.
