Anti-Abortion Activists, Including One Who Had 5 Fetuses in Home, Found Guilty of Blocking Clinic

At least five anti-abortion activists were convicted of illegally blocking a women's health clinic in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported. 

A federal jury in D.C. found all five activists of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, including Lauren Handy, guilty under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 federal law that prohibits obstructing someone’s ability to seek reproductive health services. 

Handy previously made headlines for having five fetuses in her Capitol Hill home. Per the Metropolitan Police Department, officers were responding to a tip about “potential bio-hazard material” when they located the fetuses. Handy said at the time that the fetuses were taken from medical waste being disposed of by the clinic in question.

According to The Guardian, at least 23 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to the Dept. of Justice, demanding information about the case after the discovery. No charges were ever filed over Handy's possession of the fetuses.

Handy and her co-defendants— John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, William Goodman, and Herb Geraghty—were accused of violating federal law during an October 2020 incident in which they blocked access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic for at least three hours. The blockade was recorded and streamed on Facebook Live.

According to court documents, Handy used a fake name to book an appointment at the clinic, then blocked people from entering the waiting room while other defendants chained themselves together inside the clinic using bike locks and ropes. Police had to use power tools to remove the locks and chains from some of the defendants before carrying them out of the building.

One of the clinic’s patients testified that she had to climb through a window to avoid protesters, WUSA9 reported.

At least four others were involved in the incident. A trial for those defendants is scheduled to begin next week. All nine activists were charged last year.

The defendants face up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

According to WUSA9, Handy has been charged and convicted in other abortion-related cases including trespassing at clinics.