President Donald Trump Pardons Over 20 Pro-Life Activists Targeted by Biden DOJ

President Donald Trump pardoned more than 20 pro-life activists on Thursday who were prosecuted, and some imprisoned, by Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Twenty-three people were prosecuted — they should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this,” the 45th and 47th president said as he signed the pardons, calling the imprisonment of some of the activists “ridiculous.”

Trump pardoned the pro-life activists just one day ahead of the 52nd annual March for Life, and after repeatedly pledging on the campaign trail to review and potentially pardon or commute the sentences of every “political prisoner who’s been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration,” including pro-life activists.

The activists were prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 law that prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” The act was written to equally protect abortion clinics, pro-life pregnancy resource centers, and churches; however, 97 percent of FACE Act cases since the law’s inception have been against pro-life advocates.

Data obtained by Rep. Chip Roy’s (R-TX) office found that in less than four years, Biden’s DOJ accounted for more than a quarter of all 211 FACE prosecutions since the law’s inception. At least 55 FACE Act cases were prosecuted during the Biden administration, only a handful of which were against pro-abortion attacks on pregnancy centers, despite the increase in attacks against pro-life pregnancy centers and churches following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

Biden’s DOJ often added a KKK-era conspiracy against rights charge to bolster potential sentencing time, and for a few cases, the FBI allegedly conducted early morning raids against pro-life advocates, even allegedly holding them at gunpoint in front of their families. Some of the activists targeted by the Biden DOJ include an 89-year-old communist concentration camp survivor, several grandmothers, and a Christian father of 11.

Earlier this month, Thomas More Society submitted official petitions for pardon to the Trump administration ahead of inauguration day on behalf of 21 pro-life advocates. The 21 advocates included in the pardon requests are:

Joan Bell, Coleman Boyd, Joel Curry, Jonathan Darnel, Eva Edl, Chester Gallagher, William Goodman, Dennis Green, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, Jean Marshall, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, Justin Phillips, Paul Place, Paul Vaughn, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, Calvin Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and James Zastrow.

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 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,” he added.

THANK YOU @POTUS @realDonaldTrump for pardoning the peaceful pro-lifers targeted, prosecuted, and many jailed, by Biden's DOJ!

PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/GjGPkpMQVH pic.twitter.com/mFAAkGIUUQ

— Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) January 23, 2025