Lauren Handy, a dedicated pro-life activist, received a nearly five-year prison sentence for leading a blockade of an abortion mill in Washington D.C. in October 2020. Handy, 30, was among several convicted of federal civil rights offenses for obstructing access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic that day.
During the incident, Handy instructed others to link themselves together with locks and chains to prevent entry into the clinic’s waiting room. One participant livestreamed the blockade, which lasted several hours until police made arrests. A clinic employee was injured when a protester forced their way inside and pushed her. Another protester blocked a woman in labor from entering.
In court, prosecutors cast Handy as the “criminal mastermind” who meticulously planned and executed the protest due to her strongly held beliefs. They argued her actions traumatized those present at the clinic and encouraged others to take similar “extreme” measures to impede abortion access.
However, Handy’s defense attorneys depicted her as a principled activist committed to protecting society’s most vulnerable. They said her driving purpose is “to protect those who cannot protect themselves” by giving a voice to the unborn. The attorneys sought a lenient one-year sentence, describing Handy as deeply compassionate.
Before issuing the 57-month sentence, the judge claimed that Handy was being punished strictly for her obstructive conduct, not her beliefs, as “the law does not protect violent nor obstructive conduct.” However, Handy declined to address the court, seemingly rejecting its legitimacy.
As Handy, who leads Mercy Missions, an organization dedicated to helping mothers through crisis pregnancies, was led out, supporters cheered and called her a “hero,” underlining the strength of feeling among pro-lifers the case has generated. Handy’s harsh sentence for the non-violent yet obstructive act has been further criticized as an attempt to handicap the anti-abortion movement through intimidation and target peaceful protest.