President Donald Trump has pardoned 23 pro-life activists who were convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances or FACE Act.
“They should not have been prosecuted,” Trump told reporters as he signed the pardons on Thursday.
“Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this.”
The pardons came before the 52nd Annual March for Life, which is scheduled to take place today in Washington DC.
Trump will address the march by video link. In 2020, he became the first sitting president to do so in person. Although Trump will not be in attendance at this year’s event—he will be in California to witness the damage caused by the devastating wildfires—Vice President JD Vance will attend and address the march.
Among those pardoned is 74-year-old Paula Harlow, who was convicted last year of a federal conspiracy against rights and FACE offenses for a peaceful protest outside a Washington DC abortion clinic in 2020. She was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Nine others were sentenced over the protest.
“There is no question these prosecutions were political,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a statement.
“Even ex-FBI director Chris Wray admits the overwhelming majority of abortion-related threats and violence since Dobbs is directed at pro-life Americans—not done by them. We look forward to the end of Biden’s anti-life discrimination under Attorney General Pam Bondi.”