Petitions Ask Trump To Pardon Pro-Lifers Biden Threw In Gulags
Pro-life activists, who have faced partisan prosecution under President Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ), may seek clemency from incoming President Trump. The Thomas More Society has submitted numerous petitions requesting “full and unconditional pardons” for individuals they say were “unjustly imprisoned” and “convicted” for their peaceful protests against abortion. These activists, according to the society, engaged in civil disobedience similar to that seen during the Civil Rights movement, which should typically result in minor legal consequences. The petitions highlight a pattern where the DOJ has predominantly targeted pro-life advocates, despite numerous violent acts against abortion clinics, while largely ignoring those attacks. Among those seeking pardons are individuals like Eva Edl, a survivor of a communist concentration camp, and Paul Vaughn, a father under house arrest for praying outside an abortion facility. The document also references another pro-life activist, Lauren Handy, who received a lengthy prison sentence, positioning their cases as reflective of a broader injustice they believe stems from the current management’s priorities.
The pro-life activists who suffered partisan prosecution over the last four years by President Joe Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice could have a chance at clemency if incoming President Donald Trump honors their request for “full and unconditional pardons.”
The Thomas More Society, which has represented several of the peaceful protestors targeted by the Biden administration for their opposition to baby-killing, submitted nearly two dozen petitions asking Trump to give those who were “unjustly imprisoned” and “unjustly convicted” for advocating to protect life in the womb presidential reprieve.
“These individuals participated in mere peaceable civil disobedience, in the heralded tradition of the American Civil Rights activists,” the letter accompanying the petitions states. “Peaceable actions like these usually merit, at worst, a minor misdemeanor conviction. And had they been opposing anything but abortion, Joe Biden would have given them medals — instead Biden wanted them branded as ‘convicted felons’ and imprisoned for years in a federal penitentiary.”
Despite at least 90 abortion-fueled firebombings, vandalism, and other attacks on lifesaving pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson opinion was publicized, Biden’s DOJ focused almost solely on targeting abortion dissidents.
Ultimately, only five of the 60 FACE Act cases pursued by the Biden regime zeroed in on pro-abortion extremists. The other 55 targeted people who value life in the womb for praying, singing, and evangelizing.
Among those “selfless, sincere patriots” hoping for pardons are communist concentration camp survivor Eva Edl and the dad of 11 children Paul Vaughn, who became a “convicted felon under house arrest,” for praying at a Nashville abortion facility.
Progressive pro-life activist Lauren Handy, who was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years supervision, and Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old woman with a debilitating medical condition, are also asking for the criminal records they received in exchange for protesting the possibly illegal abortion methods at a Washington, D.C., abortion facility to be removed.
Trump has signaled support for the lawfare victims several times. During a June 2024 speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, he specifically pledged to help the people who Biden “rounded up, sometimes with SWAT teams, and thrown in jail” on day one of his presidency.
“Many people are in jail over this. This is just crazy. We’re going to get that taken care of immediately. First Day. Immediately,” Trump proclaimed.
In that same speech, Trump confirmed he plans to “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.”
According to the Thomas More Society, the Republican has plenty of legal reasoning and rationale to justify following through on his promise. All of the convictions, the letter states, were obtained by the weaponized DOJ under the unconstitutional Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
“The FACE Act was expressly limited at its enactment, and its prescribed penalties were
supposed to be sharply circumscribed — the Biden DOJ thus flagrantly violated Congress’s intent
in its pursuit of the prosecutions here,” the attorneys wrote.
The attorneys’ letter also says many of the pro-lifer convictions “flout the clear teaching” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Fischer ruling and some were only secured due to denial of a fair trial.
“We are hopeful that the second Trump administration will spell a new day for pro-life advocates who have faced FBI raids, federal prosecutions, and severe punishment for peacefully and courageously witnessing for life,” Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation Peter Breen said in a statement. “By acting on the requested presidential pardons, President Trump has a golden opportunity to not only stop the lawfare against peaceful pro-lifers, but to also undo some of the unprecedented damage of the Biden administration.”
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
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