Pro-Life Activist Joan Bell Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Blocking Abortion Clinic

Her sentence came alongside those of six others, including Lauren Handy, who organized and led the event. Often called “rescues,” these types of events are designed to block access to abortions and/or convince women not to proceed with their abortion appointments. The events can vary in tactics, with some, like the one in 2020, using bike locks and other tools to prevent access.

Ms. Bell, 76, was an early leader in the rescue movement and was described by the Justice Department during sentencing as an iconic figure for pro-life activists. D.C. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced her to 27 months and 100 hours of community service.

Ms. Bell told the judge that she wouldn’t report her community service or comply with probation because she saw it as an admission of wrongdoing, which she said she couldn’t make in good conscience. The judge told her she would go back to prison if she disobeyed the court’s sentencing, and raised the prospect that Ms. Bell could lose credit for time served.

Ms. Handy, 30, was sentenced on May 14 and received 57 months for her role, the most out of the defendants who have been sentenced.

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Two of the ten defendants, Heather Idoni and Paulette Harlow, haven’t yet been sentenced. Jay Smith, 34, was the only one to plead guilty and was sentenced to ten months in prison in March 2023.

Each of the sentenced defendants received an additional 12 months for a count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law passed under former President Bill Clinton.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly said those 12 months could be served concurrently with the longer sentences that came from the other count involving alleged conspiracy against civil rights. She also said she was recommending credit for time already served.

John Hinshaw, 69, and William Goodman, 54, were both sentenced on May 14. They received 21 months and 27 months respectively, as well as three years of supervised release for each.

On May 15, 74-year-old Jean Marshall was sentenced to 24 months while Herb Geraghty, 27, got 27 months.

Of the defendants sentenced, Mr. Goodman and Mr. Hinshaw have posted notices of appeal. Ms. Handy’s attorneys have also said they will appeal.

Prosecutors and the judge noted that the defendants had prior abortion-related arrests in their criminal records. Ms. Handy had a “penchant” for this type of behavior, prosecutor Sanjay Patel suggested during sentencing. Ms. Handy’s attorney Martin Cannon told the judge that she was trying to save babies.

President Joe Biden’s administration indicted Ms. Handy and others shortly after she and Terrisa Bukovinac, a pro-life presidential candidate and a Democrat, told authorities they had a box of aborted babies. They obtained the babies outside of the same clinic, the Washington Surgi-Clinic in the nation’s capital, where the 2020 “rescue” took place.

The Thomas More Society, which represented Ms. Handy, issued a press release stating it would appeal in an attempt to overturn her conviction and challenge the constitutionality of the FACE Act.

“For her efforts to peacefully protect the lives of innocent preborn human beings, Ms. Handy deserves thanks, not a gut-wrenching prison sentence,” Thomas More Society’s senior counsel Martin Cannon said in the release.

“We will vigorously pursue an appeal of Ms. Handy’s conviction and attack the root cause of this injustice, that is, the FACE Act, which we believe is unconstitutional and should never again be used to persecute peaceful pro-lifers.”

Touting the May 14 sentences, the Justice Department published a press release in which FBI’s assistant director in charge, David Sundberg, said the agency and judicial system “will not tolerate the obstruction of civil rights.”

Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.