Anti-abortion activists pardoned by Trump face trial for new clinic ‘invasion’ | Pennsylvania
Six anti-abortion activists, including two people previously pardoned by Donald Trump, will stand trial on state charges that they trespassed on the property of an abortion clinic and refused to leave.
The six men, also charged with criminal conspiracy, were supposed to appear in court on Wednesday but waived their right to appear in court, according to attorney John Williamson; This was tantamount to pleading not guilty. A hearing date has not been set.
Abortion rights advocates say anti-abortion activists have become much bolder in the past few months after the Trump administration said it would restrict enforcement of the law, which has been used in the past to prosecute similar disruptions to the work of abortion providers.
The group was arrested in July after two people were arrested. women I walked to the Delaware County Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Upland, Pennsylvania, for a scheduled appointment. appointments. But they weren’t actually looking for an abortion. Instead, they were there to escort other anti-abortion activists to the clinic, according to police reports and an eyewitness.
Reports and eyewitnesses said activists tried to dissuade patients from having abortions. When clinic staff asked them to leave, the activists refused and began sprinkling a clear liquid and white powder around the abortion clinic. When police arrived, they eventually arrested six protesters.
They told the police that the clear liquid and white powder were holy water and salt.
These clinic “invasions” – as abortion rights supporters call them – or “rescues” as they are known by anti-abortion activists, are nothing new. During these protests, anti-abortion activists enter clinics and attempt to interfere with services, often by trying to dissuade women from having abortions, praying loudly, or physically blocking the path of staff and patients. Between 1977 and 2024, abortion opponents performed more than 500 abortions, according to the National Abortion Federation.
A few days after Trump took office, Ministry of Justice announced He said he would limit the use of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (Face) Act, which imposes federal penalties on people who go beyond peaceful protests to threaten, obstruct or injure someone trying to access a reproductive health clinic. The law, enacted in 1994, was supposed to protect clinics against a rising tide of anti-abortion harassment and violence.
But the Justice Department claimed the Face Act was being used unfairly to target anti-abortion protesters. Ignoring attacks on crisis pregnancy centersAnti-abortion facilities aimed at persuading people to continue their pregnancies. (Biden administration using the Face Law sue more than one person (to destroy such centres.) Hundred Law investigations are now only permitted in “extraordinary circumstances” or cases involving death, serious bodily harm or serious property damage.
The department also dismissed ongoing Face Act cases, while Trump was pardoned almost two dozen Persons convicted under the Hundred Law.
For some abortion rights supporters, Trump’s actions felt like putting a target on their backs. None of the defendants in the Pennsylvania case are accused of violating the Hundred Act.
“I walk through a protest every day. It’s comforting to see protests. I’ve participated in protests. I know the benefits of them,” said Amanda Kifferly, vice president of abortion access and safety director for the Women’s Center. But Kifferly continued, “It’s not normal for someone to come into your office and pretend to be someone else. It’s also not normal for someone to come into your office and sprinkle clear liquids and white powder.”
Williamson represents Bell. In his view, her actions do not constitute a crime or even a potential Hundred Law violation.
“I think it’s ridiculous to make any accusations against someone who was just trying to save some lives,” Williamson said. None of the attorneys for the other defendants returned a request for comment.
Bell and Goodman were the first people from Trump’s Hundred Act amnesty to return to abortion clinics, according to Melissa Fowler, chief program officer for the National Abortion Federation. But others involved in the Hundred Law cases have also vowed to continue such actions. In one case detailed in court recordsA man who barricaded himself in the restroom of a Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood clinic for more than three hours and forced the clinic to cancel nearly 50 appointments immediately vowed to “do it again.” (The justice department dismissed the case.)
So far in 2025, anti-abortion activists have carried out six “invasions” and three blockades in 2025, according to preliminary figures shared with the Guardian by the National Abortion Federation; in contrast, there were five “invasions” and one blockade in all of 2024. Clinics also reported fewer than 2,000 incidents of threatening or suspicious mail, calls, and social media comments in 2024. This number is 67,155.
“There’s a bit of a sense of invincibility among the protesters,” an abortion provider who does not work at the Women’s Center said of Trump’s decision to restrict enforcement of the Hundred Law. The provider asked to speak anonymously due to a recent increase in threats.
The Trump administration is now using the Hundred Law in other ways. Last week, the law was cited in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed against pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting at a synagogue in New Jersey. Although the language A justice department official confirmed at a press conference announcing the charges that the Hundred Act also protects “places of religious worship” and that the federal government has never used the law for that purpose.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment for this story.
