WASHINGTON — Jury selection began Wednesday in the trial of several pro-life activists facing federal charges in connection with a 2020 blockade of an abortion clinic in the nation’s capital as supporters urge Congress to repeal the FACE Act under which the defendants are facing up to 11 years in prison.
The first group of defendants on trial for the charge of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act are Lauren Handy, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, William Goodman and Herb Geraghty. Other activists facing federal felony charges for participating in the same blockade on Oct. 22, 2020, are Joan Andrews Bell, Jonathan Darnel, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall and Jay Smith.
Handy is the director of activism and mutual aid for the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), the pro-life group that recovered the remains of five babies in addition to boxes containing 110 human remains from the same abortion clinic at the center of this trial.