WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order pardoning 23 anti-abortion rights activists, a day before he addresses thousands of anti-abortion rights protesters at his annual march in Washington.
“Twenty-three people were prosecuted, they shouldn’t have been prosecuted,” Trump said at the deal signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday, noting that “many of them” are seniors. “It is a great honor to sign. “They will be very happy.”
Some are in jail, White House staff secretary Will Scharf told Trump as he stood next to him. None of their names were immediately released. Conservatives have accused the Biden administration of using a 1994 law that protects abortion clinics, providers and patients to attack peaceful protesters.
Congress enacted the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in response to an increase in violence against abortion providers and their patients, with the goal of allowing people to safely access such services. It also protects First Amendment religious rights. Property damage can be prosecuted under the statute.
Several of the people prosecuted under the law were involved in a 2021 blockade of a reproductive health care clinic in Washington, DC.
Pardon advocates argue that the Biden administration used the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to unfairly prosecute anti-abortion rights protesters. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, reintroduced legislation this week to repeal the measure.
The annual March for Life along the National Mall is Friday, the third time the rally has been held since Roe v. was overturned. Wade in June 2022. Trump is expected to address the crowd virtually, while Vice President JD Vance will speak in person.
Trump, during the election campaign, wavered on his message on abortion as he sought a political middle ground that would allow him to grow his coalition and win the election. At times he seemed uncomfortable about how to proceed.
But he promised at the 2023 Pray Vote Stand Summit that if he won, he would appoint a task force “to quickly review the cases of all political prisoners who have been unfairly persecuted by the Biden administration” and that “the government will never again be used federal”. target religious believers.”
Trump has signed dozens of executive actions since his inauguration on Monday, including one pardoning more than 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
On Trump’s second day in office, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., had made a public appeal for clemency for the defendants, who he said were “unfairly targeted and imprisoned by the Biden administration” for their anti-government beliefs. the right to abortion. , telling Trump on social media that they “deserve to be free.”
