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Eleven pro-life activists have been charged with physically blocking an abortion clinic in Tennessee and using violence to intimidate staff and patients, the DOJ said.
They have been charged with violating the FACE Act when they entered the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mount Juliet on March 5 last year, blocking clinic staff and at least one potential patient from entering the building.
The FACE Act is a 1994 law signed by Bill Clinton that prohibits protesters from blocking abortion clinics. Seven of the protesters have been accused of a civil rights conspiracy to organize the events.
Among those charged are leader Chester Gallagher, 73; and Coleman Boyd, 50, a pro-life physician known to go to abortion clinics and read scriptures and convince women to change their minds.
Those charged with conspiracy risk up to 11 years in prison if convicted and a $350,000 fine, while the others could spend a year behind bars and face a $10,000 fine.
Gallagher, left, allegedly staged the protest with the intention of violating the FACE Act, while Boyd, right, livestreamed the protest to his followers on Facebook
The 11 activists have been charged with violating the FACE Act when they entered the Carafem Health Center Clinic (pictured) in Mount Juliet on March 5 last year, preventing clinic staff and at least one potential patient from entering the building.
Protesters entered Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mount Juliet on March 5 and blocked it by sitting in hallways
They were peacefully arrested and removed, but now 18 months later they face federal charges for violating the FACE Act
“The 11 individuals, assisted and assisted by each other, used violence and physical restraint to injure, intimidate and interfere with clinic staff and a patient seeking reproductive health services,” the DOJ claims.
Chester Gallagher allegedly conspired to stage a series of anti-abortion events in the Nashville area on Facebook in early March, in violation of the FACE Act.
Gallagher described the blockade as a “rescue” in the mail, which was scheduled for the following day.
Boyd livestreamed the protest as the group hung out in the clinic’s corridors, blocking the doors and barring people from coming and going.
The protest had initially started as a ‘peaceful gathering’ outside the clinic, but it got uglier after the protesters went inside and refused to leave, according to Mt Juliet police, who were called around 8am.
“We wanted to make sure they don’t feel welcome killing babies in this city,” protester David Zastrow told NewsChannel5who stayed outside and did not enter the clinic.
“We understand that there were some mothers who wanted to kill their babies in the abortion clinic on the second floor, so a group of Christians decided they could prevent that.”
An unidentified man who went inside said he did it to “place ourselves between an abortion provider and women seeking abortion.”
The protest was peaceful and no one resisted his arrest, Mount Juliet police captain Tyler Chandler said at the time.
“No force was used, we didn’t have to forcibly remove anyone,” Chandler said.
“And then they started handing out papers saying they were already arrested, so it looks like this group showed up today with the intent of being arrested by our department.”
Eight adults and four teens were beaten with trespassing and juvenile convictions, while four adults were also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
But, 18 months later, they are now smitten with federal charges.
The DOJ charged seven of the protesters with “conspiracy against the rights guaranteed by the FACE Act,” including Chester Gallagher, 73; Paul Vaughn, 55; Heather Idoni, 58; Calvin Zastrow, 57; Caroline Davis, 24; Coleman Boyd, 51; and Dennis Green, 56.
The indictment also charged four others with violations of the FACE Act: Eva Edl, 87; Eva Zastrow, 24; James Zastrow, 25; and Paul Place, 24.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz came to the protesters’ defense and took action against the Biden DOJ’s “outrageous partisan abuse” on Twitter.
The Carafem clinic has issued a statement saying that ‘blocking access to or out of any business is unscrupulous – it is harassment, it is illegal and it will not be tolerated.
“No one should be blocked from getting healthcare or intimidated when trying to enter a small business of any kind. No one should have to deal with burglary or intimidation.
“The tactics used by the anti-abortion extremists here in Nashville and across the country are designed to shame, scare and prevent people from getting the legal goods and services they want and need.
The Carafem clinic had grown accustomed to protesters on the streets outside the complex and was even harassed by the city of Mount Juliet when commissioners passed a zoning plan banning surgical abortions anywhere within the city limits.
Carafem sued the city in federal court in Nashville in 2020, reclaiming their abortion rights, plus $225,000 in legal fees
“City commissioners in Mount Juliet have now wasted taxpayers’ money and months in court in a futile effort to ban access to abortion,” Andrew Beck, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a press release.
However, Tennessee has introduced an abortion ban in the state after the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade strike in June this year.
The clinic was eventually forced to stop providing abortions and complied with the ban on August 25.
“Due to the abortion ban in Tennessee, the Carafem Mt Juliet Health Center will no longer provide procedural abortion or abortion pills effective August 25, 2022,” they wrote in a statement on their website.
New analysis shows 66 clinics in 15 states have stopped offering abortion services in the 100 days since Supreme Court overturned Red v Wade ruling that constitutionally guaranteed abortions
22 million women of childbearing age (aged 15 to 49) live in these 15 states, accounting for 30 percent of women of that age in the country. Pictured: Pro-choice protesters protest outside the Susan B. Anthony Pro-life Gala on September 13
“Carafem’s doors remain open and in compliance with state law, offering a wide range of services, including affordable birth control options, STD testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and ultrasound for pregnancy dates.”
Carafem is one of 66 clinics in 15 states that have stopped providing abortions after the June 24 decision of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization repealing the constitutional right to abortion.
The clinics are located in the 13 states that have enacted near-total abortion bans since the Dobbs ruling, plus Georgia and Wisconsin.
22 million women of childbearing age (aged 15 to 49) live in these 15 states, accounting for 30 percent of women of that age in the country.
The research means nearly a third of the US female population has to travel to neighboring states to access abortion services, often crossing multiple state lines on trips that can be costly, arduous and distressing.
In Wisconsin, clinics have suspended abortions due to uncertainty over the enforceability of an 1849 ban, which doctors say is vague, leaving them fearful of future prosecution if they perform an abortion.
Before the Dobbs ruling, these 15 states were home to 79 clinics that offered abortion services, leaving only 13 that continue to do so — but in limited form.
The 13 clinics are all located in Georgia, where abortion is still legal. However, legislation introduced on July 20 means this can only be done until the sixth week of pregnancy.