WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump signed an executive order pardoning 23 anti-abortion-rights activists Thursday, one day before he is expected to address thousands of anti-abortion-rights demonstrators at their annual march in Washington.
“Twenty-three people were prosecuted, they should not have been prosecuted,” Trump said at the Oval Office signing ceremony Thursday, noting that “many of them” are elderly. “This 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 charged the Biden administration with using a 1994 law protecting abortion clinics, providers and patients to target 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 aim 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 Washington, D.C., reproductive health care clinic.
Advocates for clemency argue that the Biden administration used the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to prosecute anti-abortion-rights protesters unjustly. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, re-introduced legislation this week to repeal the measure.
The annual March for Life along the National Mall is Friday, the third time the demonstration has been held since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. Trump is expected to address the crowd virtually, while Vice President JD Vance will speak in person.
Trump, on the campaign trail, wavered on his abortion message as he searched for a political middle ground that would allow him to grow his coalition and win the election. At times he seemed uneasy 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 rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration” and that “never again will the federal government be used to target religious believers.”
Trump has signed dozens of executive actions since his inauguration Monday, including one pardoning over 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
By Trump’s second day in office, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., had issued a public appeal for clemency for the defendants, who he claimed were “unjustly targeted & jailed by the Biden Administration” for their anti-abortion-rights beliefs, telling Trump on social media that “they deserve to be free.”
