by WorldTribune Staff, June 6, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
A 75-year-old grandmother has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for singing a hymn and praying outside a Washington, D.C. abortion clinic.
Reports say that, in sentencing Paulette Harlow, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also mocked the grandmother's faith.
Paulette HarlowHarlow had been under house arrest since November 2023 because of her rapidly declining health.
Harlow’s husband, John Harlow, pleaded with the court for mercy because of his wife’s declining health and feared that she might die in prison.
“In my heart, I think she’s having a hard time staying alive,” John said, according to LiveAction. “We’ve tried to be good people. I love my wife dearly… We’re throwing ourselves on the mercy of the court.”
Judge Kollar-Kotelly reportedly dismissed his concerns and mocked Harlow’s faith in Christ.
The judge quipped that she hoped Harlow would “make an effort to remain alive” because that is a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion.”
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee condemned the judge’s remarks: “This judge mocked Harlow’s religious beliefs while sentencing the 75-year-old woman in poor health to two years in prison — all for the offense of (gasp) praying at an abortion clinic.”
The Biden Department of Justice said in a statement: “As the evidence at trial showed, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to create a blockade at the reproductive health care clinic to prevent the clinic from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services.”
In November 2023, Harlow was convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and of “conspiracy against civil rights.”
In May 2024, Harlow’s eight co-defendants were also sentenced to various lengths of time in prison followed by supervised release. On May 14, Harlow’s co-defendant Lauren Handy was sentenced to almost five years in prison.
In her statement for the government, prosecutor Rebecca Ross insisted the case was “not about the defendant’s beliefs,” but rather about “violent obstruction of reproductive healthcare” and “violating the civil rights of others.”
Ross accused Harlow of attempting to use her poor health as an “excuse” to “escape the consequences” of her actions and of lying under oath at her trial, though exactly how Harlow allegedly did the latter was not made clear.
The attorney claimed that Harlow “denied empathy and compassion” to women attempting to abort their children on the day of the rescue, and recommended a sentence of 33-41 months.
Our totally Constitutional society:
Paulette Harlow protests the butchering of babies: Right to prison to die.
Armies of violent thugs destroy billions of dollars of property in the name of an evil druggie: Here's $90 million dollars in donations to a fake nonprofit. pic.twitter.com/0JMS12ZKRL
— Brian Sauvé (@Brian_Sauve) June 4, 2024
Judge mocks Grandma’s faith, sentences 75-year-old pro-lifer to 2 years in prison added by Editor Two on June 6, 2024
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