Donald Trump, who was sworn in as the president of the United States of America for the second time, has signed a plethora of executive orders. , However, many of them caused a stir among the public.
Among the rest, he pardoned nearly dozen pro-life activists who were convicted for violating
the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and “Conspiracy Against Rights.”
He did not reveal the names, but referred to them as to “peaceful protesters.”
“Twenty-three people were prosecuted who should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are
elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted,” the president said. “This is a great honor to sign this.”
Issuing pardons to these pro-life activists was a promise Trump made during the presidential campaign.
As per the Thomas More Society, the pardons were signed on the day before the March for Life to be held in Washington, D.C.
In the letter in which they asked for the pardons, they referred to their clients as to
victims of the “weaponization of the Justice Department by the Biden Administration.”
“While Biden’s prosecutors almost entirely ignored the firebombing and vandalism of hundreds
of pro-life churches and pregnancy centers, they viciously pursued pro-life Americans,” the lawyers wrote.
In a statement, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America said,”We thank
President Trump for immediately delivering on his promise to free pro-life protesters who
[were] targeted and imprisoned by [President Joe] Biden’s Department of Justice.
Pro-life moms, grandmothers and even Eva Edl, a Communist prison camp survivor, were thrown in jail for peacefully protesting abortion.”
The statement continued: “As if that were not enough, aggressive sentences were handed down,
like five years for Lauren Handy who sought to expose evidence of late-term and potentially illegal abortions in the nation’s capital.”
While those in support of Trump’s decision to issue the pardons praised his decision, critics saw it as a controversial use of presidential power.