WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to an indictment filed Wednesday afternoon, the Department Of justice has accused 9 anti-abortion activists with conspiring to disrupt access to a women’s reproductive health clinic in Washington, D.C. in October 2020.
Joan Bell, Lauren Handy, Jay Smith, Jonathan Darnel, Jean Marshall, Paula Harlow, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, and Heather Idoni, according to prosecution, all raided the undisclosed medical facility on Oct. 22, 2020, and set up a barricade to avert patients from getting abortions as well as other reproductive health services.
All have been booked with 2 counts of conspiring to violate people’s civil rights and obstructing clinic access. They each risk a maximum sentence of 11 years in jail if convicted. According to ABC NEWS, lawyers for every accused were not named on their court document as of Thursday afternoon.
According to Handy, a known anti-abortion activist who has formerly confronted state indictments for conducting a similar clinic demonstration in Michigan, the Metropolitan Police Department searched a residence on Wednesday. Due to a lack of evidence, the allegations in Michigan were withdrawn.
According to police, they were responding to a report that a biohazardous substance was present at the residence.
Officers discovered five fetuses at the residence, according to the department. “5 fetuses were found inside a home at the location after further investigation,” MPD stated in a statement. “The DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner collected the fetuses.”
According to the complaint, all of the individuals traveled to D.C. on Handy’s orders to engage in the blockage. The group is known as Red Rose Rescue, and they frequently pass out red roses to women in the health clinic waiting area during their protests.
According to the indictment, Handy reportedly contacted the clinic days before the demonstration, claiming to be a lady named Hazel Jenkins in need of medical attention and scheduling an appointment for the morning of Oct. 22.
Prosecutors claim the activists used their bodies, chains, rope, and furniture to block 2 doors at the D.C. clinic while live-streaming their actions on Facebook.
