There’s something happening in America that spells dark news for the principles of free speech and religious expression – in the nation’s capital, no less. In 2020, 75-year-old Paulette Harlow was arrested while praying and singing hymns outside a Washington D.C. abortion clinic; come May of this year, a faceless judge decided she deserved two years of jail time.
Harlow was engaged in peaceful protest outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic on October 22, 2020, alongside a group of like-minded pro-life supporters. They shared a common goal – to save the lives of unborn children by praying for them. The group’s actions were far from violent or obstructive and they did not engage in menacing behavior. Still, the iron fist of law enforcement descended onto these quiet, solemn protestors.
Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, Harlow and eight others were arrested and convicted. A law designed to prevent “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct” somehow found an appropriate application in a peaceful scene of prayer and hymn singing. A distortion of language and logic, to say the least.
Neurotic fear seems to have replaced common sense: how peaceable prayer and hymn singing is being interpreted as “violent” and “threatening” boggles the mind. In a highly disturbing turn of events, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly shrugged off the pleas of Harlow’s husband, who begged the court not to condemn his ailing wife to die alone behind prison bars. The callousness shown by the court in this instance is a disheartening blow to human decency.
The grim endings didn’t stop with Harlow. On May 15, another peaceful protestor from the clinic, 30-year-old Lauren Handy, was slapped with a 57-month prison sentence. Further down the list, Josh Darnel, Jean Marshall, Heather Idoni, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Joan Bell, and Herb Geraghty, all faced sentences ranging from 24 to 34 months.
It’s clear now more than ever that our justice system has a severe double standard. If you’re rallying for PETA, Palestine, climate change, BLM, or transgender rights, the law hoists you onto its shoulders, hailing you as the champion of human rights. However, pray for life within the sight of an abortion clinic, and you might find yourself behind bars.
As a sobering conclusion, I urge every freedom-loving American to take notice of this case. We have strayed too far from the principles upon which our nation was built; freedom of speech is in danger. Do not let the voice of conservatism be silenced by a legal system that would rather satiate the left than uphold justice. Protect your constitutional liberties, for they are the bedrock of this great nation. Let us not forget that our country was founded on the principles of religious and personal freedom; it’s high time we returned to those roots.
