Judge penalizes 75-year-old woman for prayer and protest at abortion clinic, mocks her husband for Christian beliefs: Report

The article discusses the sentencing of pro-life‍ activist Paulette Harlow ⁣for praying inside a Washington‌ D.C. abortion clinic​ in 2020. The judge’s response and the activists’ arrest under the Freedom‌ of Access to Clinic Entrances Act are highlighted. The Department of Justice’s commitment to protecting reproductive health services is also‌ mentioned, sparking a discussion on the justice system’s approach⁢ to different forms of activism and the‍ prioritization of cases.


Commentary

By Samuel Short June 4, 2024 at 8:12am

CORRECTION, June 5, 2024: Paulette Harlow and other pro-life activists were arrested during a prayer and protest action in the waiting area inside a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in October 2022. An earlier version of this article described the location of their protest incorrectly. The headline has also been changed to better reflect her actions.

America’s two-tiered justice system continues to rear its ugly head.

According to the Washington Examiner, 75-year-old Paulette Harlow was sentenced on Friday by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to two years in prison for praying inside a Washington D.C. abortion clinic four years ago.

According to the pro-life group Live Action, Harlow’s husband, John, delivered a statement to the court declaring he feared his wife would die behind bars without his care.

Kollar-Kotelly’s response, from Live Action’s report, can only be described as a taunt; she said she hoped Harlow would “make an effort to remain alive” as it was a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion.”

Harlow, along with other pro-life activists, went to the Washington Surgi-clinic on Oct. 22, 2020, day to pray the children of those expecting mothers who were seeking to end their lives would be saved. According to an Associated Press report from the time, the activists occupied the clinic’s waiting room, blocking entrances to areas where the procedure was performed.

A total of nine activists, including Harlow, were arrested on charges of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Under the act, one cannot engage in, “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

You can see police making the arrests of the pro-life activists below.

Here is a video of the protest this poor woman is going to prison for. pic.twitter.com/xDcchPfQ7R

— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) June 3, 2024

In a statement Friday, the DOJ described the events surrounding Harlow’s arrest, stating that she and fellow protesters “forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains, and ropes.”

“Once the blockade was established, they live-streamed their activities. The evidence also showed that the defendants violated the FACE Act by using a physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.”

In a May 15 statement, following the sentencing of seven of Harlow’s co-defendants, the DOJ vowed to protect “reproductive health care.”

“The seven defendants executed an extensive blockade of a reproductive care clinic, including faking a patient appointment to enter the facility,” Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division said in the statement.

“FACE Act violations are distressing to anyone attempting to safely access reproductive healthcare, and, in this case, unfortunately resulted in the physical injury of a nurse. The FBI continues our work to ensure everyone has unimpeded access to reproductive health care facilities.”

“The Justice Department will continue to protect both patients seeking reproductive health services and providers of those services. We will hold accountable those who seek to interfere with access to reproductive health services in our country,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the statement.

Should Paulette Harlow be freed?

The DOJ will approach protesters with zeal and efficiency when it’s in the name of “reproductive health.”

Why can’t it be bothered to go after countless left-wing activists who plague our streets and harass us with destruction of property, violence, and murder?

When rioters and terrorists take to the streets, they are celebrated as champions of all that is good.

Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters infamously told her supporters to harass the Trump administration officials in 2018.

In 2020, the country saw countless examples of Black Lives Matter and antifa terrorism after George Floyd’s death as anyone looting, destroying, assaulting, and even killing was defended for expressing supposed righteous indignation over Floyd’s death.

Not only politicians, but establishment media outlets bent over backward for these people. Remember CNN captioning footage in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as “fiery but mostly peaceful” as buildings burned?

These are the real criminals the DOJ should pursue. Americans praying that children are not murdered should not land high on its list of priorities.

Harlow’s case is a travesty and only further proves the U.S. justice system, in the hands of progressive Democrats, hates conservative values.


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.”

That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.

Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.

The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.

Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control.

A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.

We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you join us in the fight?

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

The Western Journal

Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London.



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