St. Bridget, St. Elizabeth & Sacred Heart

Farm workers. / Credit: mikeledray/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 22, 2024 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

The national anti-poverty program run by U.S. bishops has released its annual report from 2023, revealing that it spent $11.4 million more than it collected.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) Annual Report 2023 revealed that the program ended the year with a net operating deficit of $2,830,364 after spending more than the combined total of its $8,451,156 savings and the $7,284,574 in revenue it collected this year. 

The CCHD is a nationwide anti-poverty program run by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that raises money every year and allocates funding to charitable organizations that benefit the poor. 

In total, the organization dedicated to “breaking the cycle of poverty” spent $18,696,903 overall despite having just $15,735,730 in available funds after clearing out its accumulated assets.

Bishop Timothy Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who chairs the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, stated in the annual report that the various charitable projects that received CCHD funds mentioned represent “a small taste of how CCHD invested $7.3 million of [donor] gifts in grants in 2023 to help people help each other.” 

The CCHD has not published a list of grantees since 2022, though USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi told CNA this week that she expects CCHD’s 2023 grantee list to be “posted soon.” 

CCHD’s recent difficulties and past controversy

The CCHD annual report documenting its financial difficulties comes after its former director, Ralph McCloud, resigned from his position in April. In June, several USCCB social justice employees working for the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, which oversees CCHD, were laid off. Bishops had privately discussed the CCHD during its June plenary assembly ahead of the layoffs. 

Noguchi told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, at the time that the layoffs were part of a “reorganization” geared toward enabling the conference to “align resources more closely with recent funding trends.” 

“The CCHD subcommittee will continue its work,” she continued, adding: “In the interest of good stewardship, the administration of the collection is being reorganized to allow for more efficient management.”

McCloud is now a fellow at a social justice political advocacy group called NETWORK, which was founded by Catholic Sisters in 1972. 

Over the years the program has generated controversy and criticism. Beginning in 2008, the CCHD was faulted by activists — and some Catholic bishops — for funding organizations that have taken positions contrary to Church teaching, such as on abortion and same-sex marriage.

In 2010, the USCCB instituted new controls to help ensure that grantees conform with Catholic teaching.

President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, photographed here with Kirk Adams and First Lady Jill Biden, in a photo posted to his X account, Nov. 20, 2024. / Credit: President Joe Biden/X

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 22, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the country — to Cecile Richards, an abortion activist who was the president of Planned Parenthood for more than a decade.

Although the Medal of Freedom is often awarded in a public ceremony, the president gave the medal to Richards in a private ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 20. This is the 37th person to whom Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom but the first who is known primarily for abortion advocacy.

“With absolute courage, [Richards] fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are — a nation of freedom,” Biden, the second Catholic president in American history, said in a post on X late Wednesday afternoon.

“Through her work to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women’s reproductive rights and equality, and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote, she has carved an inspiring legacy,” Biden added.

Richards reposted the president’s remarks on her X account, thanking Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for “all you’ve done to support women’s health and rights.”

“Such an honor representing abortion rights and the need for health care for all,” Richards said.

Richards was the president of Planned Parenthood from February 2006 until she stepped down in April 2018. The number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood increased by more than 10% during her tenure. In 2006, the organization performed 289,750 abortions but increased that number to 321,384 abortions in 2016.

Planned Parenthood abortionists completed about 320,000 abortions each year during her time as president, which amounts to more than 3 million abortions under her leadership.

According to the White House, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is reserved for people “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavors.”

Earlier this year, Richards announced that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer — the same type of cancer that claimed the life of Biden’s son Beau in 2015.

Biden’s views on abortion have shifted during his career. The president began serving his first term in the Senate in 1973, just days before the United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal nationwide. At the time, Biden criticized the decision. He gradually moved toward a staunch pro-abortion stance over the next 50 years in politics.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned during his presidency in June 2022, Biden vowed to codify a national right to abortion into federal law and supported ending the prohibition on federal tax money directly paying for abortion. 

During his presidency, the Biden administration sought to scale back religious freedom protections in abortion laws and moved to expand surgical abortion through the Department of Health and Human Services and chemical abortion through federal regulations. Other policies included funding for overseas organizations that promote abortion and a policy at the U.S. Department of Defense to fund abortion travel costs for service members and their families.

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated president on Jan. 20, 2025, opposes federal restrictions on abortion, and he supports leaving abortion law to the states. He has vowed to protect religious freedom and is open to reenacting the federal ban on overseas abortion funding.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), penned an op-ed with the Wall Street Journal, which stated they will recommend ending federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

Biden’s support for abortion has put him at odds with Catholic bishops and the pope on the issue of life.

In April, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and said that Biden “picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts … especially in terms of the life issues.”

“There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a ‘cafeteria Catholic,’ [in which] you choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging,” Gregory said.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, accused Biden of “making a mockery of our Catholic faith” in May after the president made the sign of the cross while promoting abortion.

In 2022, Pope Francis said Biden should “talk to his pastor about that incoherence” when talking about Biden supporting abortion even though he is a Catholic.

Missouri’s bishops are urging the state to forgo executing a Christopher Collings, who was convicted of the 2007 abduction, rape, torture and murder of a 9-year-old girl. Collings is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections

St. Louis, Mo., Nov 22, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Missouri’s bishops are urging the state to forgo executing a man next month who was convicted of the 2007 abduction, rape, torture, and murder of a 9-year-old girl.

Police said Christopher Collings confessed to killing Rowan Ford after raping her on Nov. 3, 2007. The murder took place in rural Stella, Missouri, in the far southwest corner of the state. 

Collings’ confession, which became a key piece of evidence at his trial, allegedly took place during an unrecorded conversation with now-deceased Police Chief Clinton Clark. Collings’ attorneys have argued that the prosecution suppressed information about Clark’s alleged criminal history that would have been relevant to the trial. 

Ford’s stepfather also admitted to playing a primary role in the crime, though he was ultimately only charged with lesser offenses and eventually released from prison. 

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in April announced that his office had requested that the Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date for Collings, claiming “no court has ever found any legal errors” with his conviction.

Barring an intervention from the Missouri Supreme Court or the governor, Collings will be executed on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

The Missouri Catholic Conference, which advocates policy on behalf of the state’s bishops, is urging Catholics to contact the governor to express their opposition to Collings’ execution.

“The death and other circumstances of Rowan’s murder are tragic and abhorrent, and though her death was a great injustice, it still would also be an injustice if the state carries out a man’s execution in lieu of confining him to life imprisonment,” the bishops said in a statement.

“The Catholic Church is strongly opposed to the death penalty because it disregards the sanctity and dignity of human life,” they said.

The bishops said that citizens can reach out to the governor’s office to express opposition to the pending execution. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting an update promulgated by Pope Francis in 2018, describes the death penalty as “inadmissible” and an “attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” (No. 2267).

The change reflects a development of Catholic doctrine in recent years. St. John Paul II, calling the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary,” encouraged Christians to be “unconditionally pro-life” and said that “the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

Missouri is among the most prolific of all U.S. states when it comes to the death penalty; it was one of only five states to carry out executions in 2023, carrying out four that year. 

Outgoing Republican Gov. Mike Parson has never granted clemency to a death row inmate during his governorship. In April Parson denied death row inmate Brian Dorsey’s clemency request despite protests from Catholics and others, clearing the way for the state’s first execution of 2024. 

In September Missouri executed Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams for the brutal murder of a St. Louis journalist in 1998 despite doubts about Williams’ guilt. 

null / Credit: maxim ibragimov/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 22, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

Abortions dropped sharply in Iowa immediately after a strict abortion ban went into effect there, according to data from a major pro-abortion group. 

Data from the Guttmacher Institute, released on Thursday, show an average of 400 clinician-provided abortions per month in Iowa over the first six months of 2024. 

After the state’s six-week ban went into effect on July 29, “the number of abortions dropped to an estimated 250 in August, a decrease of 38% from the average over the first six months of the year,” Guttmacher said. 

The abortions in the dataset “include procedural abortions as well as medication abortions obtained via telehealth” both in and out of Iowa, Guttmacher said. 

The Guttmacher Institute advocates in favor of abortion; the organization indicated that the data show some Iowa women “may have been forced to continue their [pregnancies]” under the new law. 

The Catholic Church in Iowa earlier this year celebrated the June decision by the Iowa Supreme Court that found abortion is “not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution.” That ruling allowed the heartbeat law to take effect. 

“For us, this is a question of the common good and human dignity. Human life is precious and should be protected in our laws to the greatest extent possible,” the state’s bishops said. 

The Iowa figures reflect similar drops in abortion seen around the country in the wake of shifting abortion laws. 

Legal abortions in the United States decreased by more than 6% in the first six months that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade. 

The average number of monthly abortions decreased from 82,270 in the two months before Roe v. Wade was overturned to 77,073 in the six months that followed the decision. 

Similarly, the fertility rate in Texas rose by a statistically significant amount in the wake of the state’s pro-life laws, a University of Houston study revealed in January.

A 2023 study found that Texas’ six-week abortion ban led to nearly 9,800 more births in the state over a nine-month period than otherwise expected.

Earlier this year, on the other hand, the American Medical Association said data indicated a significant increase in unsupervised abortion attempts from 2021 to 2023. 

The researchers in that study, some of whom had ties to Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion ACLU, alleged that pro-life laws were driving the spike in unsupervised abortions. 

Police are searching for a thief who entered the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street in Manhattan on Nov. 20, 2024, and stole a gold rose that memorializes a priest who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. / Credit: Courtesy of NYPD

CNA Staff, Nov 22, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Police are searching for a thief who entered a Manhattan Catholic church this week and stole a gold rose that memorializes a priest who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

Police said in a release that on Wednesday afternoon an individual entered the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street and “removed a gold-plated metal rose from the 9/11 memorial inside without permission or authority to do so.”

The suspect on Friday was identified as 21-year-old Deikel Alcantara. The incident was being treated as an act of grand larceny. In New York State, grand larceny involves the theft of property worth at least $1,000. 

Father Brian Jordan, the church’s pastor, told the New York Daily News on Thursday that Alcantara was “known to church staffers and had been asked to leave on several occasions,” the newspaper said. 

For years, the memorial has stood in honor of Father Mychal Judge, a former pastor at St. Francis who served as a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. Judge was struck and killed by debris during the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. 

The priest had rushed to the scene of the crisis after the first plane struck. He was reportedly asked by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pray for the victims who had initially died in the attack; Judge did so, including at a command post inside the North Tower.

Though not the first to die in the crisis, Judge was designated as “Victim 0001” of the day’s mass murder, becoming the first certified victim of the terror attack. He “refused to flee to safety” before the South Tower’s collapse, Giuliani said in a memorial tribute last year. 

The memorial is also dedicated to Carole LaPlante, a secular Franciscan and former parishioner who died in the attack. 

The small monument inside the church incorporates a section of twisted steel beams pulled from the wreckage of the World Trade Center after its collapse, along with the gold rose. 

A plaque attached to the monument notes that the rose “transcends the senseless brutality” of the attacks “with an enduring promise of hope.”

null / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 22, 2024 / 09:10 am (CNA).

American Catholic bishops are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reject a proposed “gender identity” rule that could make faithful Catholic entities ineligible for contracts with the department.

The HHS has proposed a rule to prohibit “discrimination” against a person based on his or her “sexual orientation” and self-assigned “gender identity” in the administration of all HHS services and programs. The proposed language does not state what actions or policies would constitute discrimination.

According to the proposal, which is undergoing a public comment period, any entity that submits a bid for a contract must “comply with the requirements of this policy” if that contract is awarded. The proposed language does not include any religious exemptions for the nondiscrimination rules.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) electronically submitted a public comment to HHS requesting that the department reject the proposal. The prelates argued the language is ambiguous and could force entities in health-related contracts to provide transgender drugs and surgeries to adults and children with gender dysphoria, even if the entity has a religious or moral objection.

In their public comment, the bishops also expressed concern that the language could force entities in HHS contracts to provide counseling that affirms a person’s homosexual attraction, even if that entity has a religious or moral objection.

“The preamble provides no explanation of how this nondiscrimination requirement will be construed, or will work in practice, as applied to the various programs and services that HHS administers and for which it enters into contracts,” the USCCB comment stated.

Depending on how the proposed rule is enforced, it could force Catholic entities to either violate their religious beliefs or forgo contracts with HHS altogether. 

The rule would apply to Catholic hospitals that accept patients on Medicare and Medicaid, which are two programs overseen by HHS. It would also apply to Catholic entities that partner with HHS on social services, such as foster care, adoption, and assistance to migrants.

This would not be the first time that HHS under President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to force Catholic entities to violate their religious beliefs.

In 2022, HHS promulgated a rule that sought to force all hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to provide abortions if they constituted a “stabilizing treatment” under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit blocked the enforcement of this rule and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on the administration’s appeal.

An appellate court ruled in August 2022 that HHS could not force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions or provide transgender drugs and surgeries to adults and minors based on its interpretation of the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on “sex discrimination.”

The public comment period for the proposed HHS rule ends on Dec. 2 of this year, after which the department will consider the public’s suggestions. It will then decide whether to adopt the rule. 

Even if the rule is adopted, it would likely be quickly discarded after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 of next year. 

The president-elect has been critical of what he calls “transgender insanity,” has backed a federal ban on transgender surgeries for minors, and has said he “will take historic action to defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology and reaffirm that God created two genders, male and female” and support religious freedom.

Trump intends to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS. That appointment will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Georgetown University President John DeGioia attends a ceremony at which an honorary degree was bestowed on AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Sept. 3, 2009, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

The longest-serving president in Georgetown University history, John DeGioia, is stepping down after 23 years to recover after suffering a stroke. 

DeGioia, who served as the 48th president of the Jesuit university in Washington, D.C., noted in a letter that stepping down was “the most difficult decision I have ever made.” 

He explained in his letter that he is retiring “to devote my energies to my ongoing recovery” from his recent stroke in June. DeGioia will remain on staff as a member of the faculty, according to a Thursday announcement by the university.

“Serving as the president of Georgetown has been the privilege of my lifetime,” DeGioia stated. “I look forward to continuing to advance and support Georgetown’s mission and the university community that means so much to all of us. I remain deeply proud of the work we have done together to strengthen the Georgetown community, our nation, and our world.”

DeGioia graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1979 and a doctorate in philosophy in 1995. When he became president in 2001, DeGioia became the first layperson to lead a Jesuit college or university in the U.S.

“With DeGioia’s vision, Georgetown has grown new and existing academic programs, deepened opportunities for student learning and engagement, and advanced Georgetown’s mission of education and service globally,” the university press release stated.

DeGioia oversaw the establishment of a new campus in Qatar in 2005 as well as the formation of the McCourt School of Public Policy in 2013. He oversaw an increase in the financial aid budget to $284 million and endowment growth from $700 million in 2001 to $3.6 billion in 2024. 

Chair of the Georgetown board of directors Thomas Reynolds III said that under DeGioia’s leadership, the university “has grown and flourished as a global leader in higher education.”

“It is hard to put in words the depth of Jack’s impact at Georgetown,” Reynolds said. “Since first arriving on campus as an undergraduate student in 1975, Jack has spent his entire career at Georgetown and has helped shape every facet of the university.”

DeGioia “guided many new efforts to engage Georgetown’s Catholic and Jesuit identity,” according to the university press release. 

In his letter, DeGioia noted the importance of the university’s role in the world in light of “our mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution.” 

Early in his presidency, DeGioia established the role of vice president for Mission and Ministry, designed to deepen Ignatian spirituality at the university. DeGioia collaborated with the Vatican and visited Rome annually to engage with Catholic leaders. He helped establish the university’s Initiative of Catholic Social Thought and Public Life in 2013 to build dialogue and encourage young Catholic leaders in their faith. 

“I am grateful to many who have guided us in this work and who have enlivened our tradition in new ways so that Ignatian spirituality and our Catholic and Jesuit identity are ever more present to our university community,” he wrote.

Under DeGioia, Georgetown became the first Catholic university to open an LGBTQ resource center in 2008. 

Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest who served as a board member under DeGioia, noted in a post on X on Thursday that DeGioia was “one of the very earliest supporters of my LGBTQ ministry and OutreachCatholic,” a controversial pro-LGBT group.

Under DeGioia’s leadership, Georgetown renovated sacred spaces for Orthodox Christian and Catholic communities while expanding the Jewish gathering space on campus and opening a mosque on campus as well as “Dharmālaya,” a Dharmic mediation center. 

In 2023, Georgetown became the first Catholic and Jesuit university to establish a Disability Cultural Center. 

DeGioia also oversaw Georgetown’s “ongoing work on racial justice,” the press release noted. DeGioa in 2015 publicly apologized for Georgetown staff, the Maryland Province of Jesuits, who owned and sold more than 250 slaves in the 1830s. 

“Georgetown is a place where we — continuously, rigorously, and collectively — pursue truth,” DeGioia continued in his letter. “We commit to the formation of our students, to the inquiry of our faculty, and to the common good of our communities."

Robert Groves, Georgetown’s current provost and executive vice president, will serve as interim president while the board of directors searches for a new president. The vice president and chief of staff to DeGioia, Joseph Ferrara, will serve as senior vice president and chief of staff.

Pope Francis signs two bottles of bourbon presented to him by Father Jim Sichko at the Vatican on May 1, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

Two bottles of rare bourbon signed by Pope Francis are projected to net up to $20,000 for several Kentucky charities. 

Father Jim Sichko, a priest in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, and a papal Missionary of Mercy, told CNA that the charity auction came about from Sichko’s habit of bringing Kentucky bourbon to the Holy Father and other Vatican officials during his trips to Rome. 

“It is a tradition in my family’s household to always bring a gift,” he said. “And since I’m from Kentucky, bourbon represents our state; it’s our livelihood.” 

Sichko first presented Pope Francis with a bottle of rare Pappy Van Winkle bourbon in 2018. The exchange went viral, leading the priest to regularly bring the Holy Father a bottle of Kentucky’s most well-known export when visiting the Eternal City.

Last year Sichko opted to do a “barrel pick” at Willett Distillery in Bardstown in honor of Pope Francis’ 10-year anniversary as pope. A barrel pick allows a customer to choose a specific barrel of whiskey as part of a commemorative bottling, complete with a distinctive label. This year the priest made a second barrel pick in honor of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Mercy. 

In both picks, Sichko saved the first bottle of the barrels while donating the rest of each to charity, planning to have the pope sign the first bottles for a special charity effort.

Sichko said he presented the Holy Father with the two bottles on a trip to the Vatican in May. Pope Francis signed both and then asked the priest: “Which one is mine?”

“And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, neither!’” Sichko said, laughing.

The whiskies are currently up for online bidding. A live auction will ultimately take place in New York at Sotheby’s on Dec. 7. The funds raised from the auctions — estimated by Sotheby’s at upward of $10,000 per bottle — will be donated to several charities, the priest said, including Southeast Texas Hospice as well as Maxwell Street Legal Clinic. The latter assists immigrants in Kentucky with legal needs. 

The proceeds will also go toward an assistance ministry run by Sichko as well as a no-kill animal shelter in Kentucky. 

The immigration legal clinic, Sichko said, is a nod toward Pope Francis’ particular concern for migrants, while the animal shelter evokes the patronage toward animals displayed by St. Francis of Assisi, the pope’s papal namesake.

The priest said that Sotheby’s has waived its normal auction fees in honor of the charity. “That’s major for an auction house to do that,” he said.

The pope, meanwhile, reportedly knows the high quality of Kentucky whiskey having pronounced the Pappy Van Winkle “very good bourbon” upon receiving it.

From left: John Hinshaw, Jonathan Darnel, Lauren Handy, Joan Bell, and Jean Marshall are among the pro-life activists who are still in prison or awaiting prison sentences on federal charges brought by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice for protests at abortion clinics — but President-elect Donald Trump has signaled he will likely grant them presidential pardons. / Credit: Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 21, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

More than a dozen pro-life activists are still in prison or awaiting sentences on federal charges brought by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) for protests at abortion clinics — but President-elect Donald Trump has signaled he will likely grant them presidential pardons.

Under the current administration, the DOJ increased its prosecution of pro-life activists under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The legislation was designed to increase penalties for people who obstruct access to abortion clinics or pregnancy resource centers.

During Biden’s tenure as president, the DOJ has brought FACE Act charges against more than 30 people who took part in pro-life protests at abortion clinics. Most of the charges were linked to four demonstrations: in Nashville, Tennessee; Mount Juliet, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Some protesters were spared prison sentences, but several have been sentenced to at least two years in federal prison, with the longest being four years and nine months. Several of those who are imprisoned are senior citizens, and many are Catholic.

Trump promises to review cases of pro-lifers

On at least two occasions, Trump has signaled his intent to pardon pro-life activists who are incarcerated for protests at abortion clinics. 

In September 2023, Trump criticized the conviction of five pro-life activists in Washington, D.C.: “Marxists and Stalinists in the administration got a Washington, D.C., jury to convict five pro-life activists who are now facing up to 11 years in prison for simple acts of protest.”

Trump added that he would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration ... so that I can study the situation very quickly and sign their pardons or commutations on Day 1.”

In June of this year, Trump raised the issue again and specifically referenced one of the elderly activists, Paulette Harlow, who is incarcerated for her part in the Washington, D.C., protest. He made the comments during a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition. 

Trump said he would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime, including Paulette, so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.” Trump said he would take action “immediately” on the “first day.”

Below are some of the prisoners who could benefit from Trump’s anticipated pardons.

Paulette Harlow, 75 years old, 24 months in prison

Paulette Harlow, a Catholic pro-life activist, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the Washington, D.C., protest. She was convicted of participating in a “blockade” at an abortion clinic in which the group blocked two doors, according to the DOJ. A video of the incident shows some protesters praying and singing hymns while blocking the doors.

She was sentenced in May at 75 years old. 

Harlow suffers from several medical conditions. While speaking with CNA in June, she said the hardest part of going to prison is leaving her husband, but she said it is an “honor to work and stand up before the unborn.”

“I’m heartbroken for all of us,” Harlow said. “I’m heartbroken for America. I really am.” 

Jean Marshall, 74 years old, 24 months in prison

Jean Marshall, a pro-life nurse, was also sentenced to two years in prison for participating in the Washington, D.C., protest. She was 74 years old when she was convicted in May. 

Marshall, who also suffers from health issues, told CNA in June that the penalty is exacerbating her health problems. She said “I’m just there to save the child” and “it is the right thing to do at the right time.” 

She also expressed joy over the support she received and at getting more than 150 letters: “Talking to my sister she told me: ‘Jean, thousands of people are praying for you. And I said, ‘Well, if I don’t become a saint after this, then shame on me. I really do need those prayers.’”

Joan Bell, 76 years old, 27 months in prison

Joan Bell, a mother of seven and grandmother of seven, received a slightly longer sentence of 27 months in prison for her involvement in the Washington, D.C., protest. She was 76 years old at the time she was convicted. 

Bell’s husband, Chris, told CNA in June that he is offering up the pain of being separated from his wife in reparation for the sin of abortion. He said the separation is “incredibly disorienting” and that his wife “should be here because, in a just society, she would be appropriately applauded. And in an unjust society, she is condemned. And so we’re all condemned.”

“One day at a time, one prayer at a time, I’m getting through,” he said. “It’s a very unusual position to be in at this point in our lives because I rely on her a lot for the family. Even though our children are not children, they’re young adults, still, it’s a very active and big family. And I’m missing my better half.”

John Hinshaw, 69 years old, 21 months in prison

John Hinshaw, who also took part in the Washington, D.C., protest, was given 21 months — nearly two years in prison. He was 69 years old when he was convicted in May. 

Hinshaw addressed the court upon his sentencing, which was posted on X by Live Action president Lila Rose. 

“How is it that my granddaughter is a treasure, and the others are trash?” Hinshaw said. “There is a reason why today’s Gospel reading is to lay down one’s life for his friends. This is not a coincidence.”

“I am sorry to this generation that it has lost a third of its own to abortion,” he continued. “... I stand convicted, though guiltless.”

Lauren Handy, 30 years old, 4 years and 9 months in prison

Lauren Handy, a longtime activist with the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, was handed a sentence of four years and nine months in prison, the longest sentence out of all of the pro-life activists. According to the DOJ, she “directed” the Washington, D.C., protest. 

She was convicted in May at the age of 30.

Handy posted on X that she intended to continue her pro-life activism and rejects “the use of fear and shame from outside and inside forces as a means to hold us back from loving preborn people as our equals.”

“I reject calls to temper passionate responses to egregious acts of violence,” Handy said. “I embrace courage over comfort and right over easy. I embrace the uncertainty in a future full of hope. I embrace tenderness, joy, and love for my preborn neighbors.” 

Jonathan Darnel, 42 years old, 2 years and 10 months in prison

Jonathan Darnel, who filmed the Washington, D.C., protest, was sentenced to nearly three years in prison. The DOJ listed Darnel as one of the “leaders” of the protest, along with Handy. 

He was 42 years old when he was sentenced in May.

Darnel told CNA last September that the blockade prevented the clinic from operating for about four hours, “so we hope that some of those children were saved.” He said he planned to continue his pro-life ministry while in prison: “Hopefully I can still be a good witness to them in one way or another.” 

“FACE is a crime, but it shouldn’t be a crime because abortion shouldn’t be tolerated,” he said, adding that “it’s an honor to be taken like so many others.”

In total, 10 people were sentenced to prison for FACE Act violations for participating in the Washington, D.C., protest. All received prison time.

Eva Edl, 89 years old, awaiting sentence

Eva Edl, who survived a communist concentration camp in the former Soviet-controlled Yugoslavia, is awaiting her sentence for her role in a protest at an abortion clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

She was 89 years old when she was convicted in August. According to the DOJ, she sat in front of an entrance with a doorstop wedged under the door to prevent it from being opened. 

This is Edl’s second FACE Act conviction this year. She was also convicted for her role in the protest at an abortion clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. She was given three years’ probation in that case.

Many of the others who participated in the Michigan protest are awaiting sentencing. Seven people were convicted.

Bevelyn Beatty Williams, 33 years old, 3 years and 5 months in prison

Bevelyn Beatty Williams, a young mother of a 2-year-old girl, was sentenced to nearly three and a half years in prison for protesting inside an abortion clinic in New York City. According to the DOJ, she pressed her body against a door to hold it closed, which injured the hand of a staff member.

She was 33 years old when she was sentenced in July.

For a fundraiser on GiveSendGo, Williams said she “was persecuted as a Christian standing for my beliefs when it comes to life.”

“I am appealing my case, fighting for my freedom, and trying to support my family during this time of [crisis],” Williams said. “We will fight this case all the way to the Supreme Court if that’s what it takes.”

Her fundraiser received more than $328,000 in contributions. 

Is there a double standard?

Despite the prosecution of pro-life activists, most attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches — of which there have been more than 100 — have gone unsolved in the past four years.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has claimed the disparity is because pro-life activists have conducted their protests “during the daylight” and the pro-abortion activists waged attacks “at night in the dark.” 

Several Republican Congressmen have raised concerns about the disparity and a group of conservative organizations are in an ongoing legal battle with the DOJ to obtain documents related to their investigations into the attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches.

null / Credit: KieferPix/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

Wyoming judge blocks state pro-life laws

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court after a county judge blocked two pro-life laws in Wyoming. The judge blocked the Life Is a Human Right Act, which protected unborn children except in cases when the mother’s life was at risk or in cases of rape or incest, as well as a law prohibiting chemical abortions via abortion pills, a law signed by Gordon in March 2023. 

Gordon said on Tuesday that the ruling was “frustrating” and that he instructed his attorney general to prepare to appeal the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens ruled on Monday that the two laws violated the state constitution by restricting medical decisions. Owen has blocked Wyoming abortion laws three times since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now that the ruling has been struck down, abortion is legal up until fetal viability in Wyoming.

The plaintiffs included Wyoming abortion clinic Wellspring Health Access, two obstetricians, two other women, and the Wyoming abortion advocacy group Chelsea’s Fund. Following the ruling, Chelsea’s Fund stated on Tuesday that it “will do everything in our power to uphold this ruling in the Wyoming Supreme Court.”

Montana judge blocks licensing law for abortion clinic 

A Montana District Court temporarily paused the state’s recent health department licensing regulations for abortion clinics amid pending litigation. House Bill 937 required licensure and regulation of abortion clinics and included rules for sanitation standards, emergency equipment, and hotlines for women who are coerced into an abortion or are victims of sex trafficking.

Two abortion providers, All Families Healthcare in Kalispell and Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, and an abortionist sued over the regulations, saying they would have to close if they were implemented. Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Chris Abbot ruled in their favor, saying that H.B. 937 was a shift in “the status quo” that abortion providers “are not generally considered health care facilities subject to a licensure requirement.” Montana voters approved Initiative 128 on Election Day, enshrining a right to abortion in the constitution and allowing abortion after fetal viability.

Virginia bishops condemn fast-tracked right to abortion proposal

Two Virginia bishops recently opposed a proposed amendment granting a right to abortion, which was fast-tracked by the state House Privileges and Elections Committee. Bishops Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Barry Knestout of Richmond in a Nov. 13 statement called the proposed right to abortion “a fundamental tragedy.” Virginia law currently allows abortion up to 26 weeks and six days and allows abortion after that in certain cases. Burbidge and Knestout encouraged Virginia to “work instead for policies that affirm the life and dignity of every mother and every child.”

The bishops also opposed a fast-tracked proposal to remove the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman from the state constitution. The bishops noted that they “affirm the dignity of every person” and “affirm too that marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman.” Following the election, the bishops encouraged “deep engagement in decisions” that are at “the heart of who we are.”