Two pro-lifers avoided prison time on Wednesday after being sentenced over FACE Act-related convictions for their participation in a pro-life protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in March 2021.
Pro-life Christians Coleman Boyd and Dennis Green were sentenced in Nashville by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger, who decided not to impose a prison sentence on them, despite the urging of the Biden administration. Boyd was given a $10,000 fine and given five years of supervised release heavily restricting his movement. Green was given three years of supervised release and no fine. Earlier in the day, one of their co-defendants, Cal Zastrow, was given six months in prison.
The Justice Department wanted 15 months in prison for Boyd, 12 months for Green, and 27 months for Zastrow.
The pro-lifers were targeted by Biden’s Justice Department after they were present at a sit-in at the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Both were convicted of violating the FACE Act, a Clinton-era law guaranteeing entrance into abortion facilities, and of conspiring against rights. They faced up to 10.5 years in prison over the charges.
“My conscience would not allow me to do otherwise on that day,” Green said of his participation in the sit-in when given time to speak during his testimony. “Politics have taken the place of justice for these children.”
Green added that as a Christian, he was compelled to obey God, saying that Christians have always been at the forefront of helping the weak and needy. He also cited the Declaration of Independence, saying that the right to life is guaranteed by law.
During his time to speak, Boyd also spoke about his Christian faith, choking up as he discussed how God had changed his life.
He said that God had “transformed” his life and that his love for God and others “drives everything I do.”
As felons, both Green and Boyd cannot vote or own a firearm. They also have travel restrictions and cannot enter or go within a 100 feet of an abortion facility. For the first six months of their probation, they are banned from leaving the county they reside in except for the purpose of an approved work trip. They also both have 13 children.
Well over 100 supporters of the pro-lifers gathered at the court on Wednesday, with an overflow room streaming the proceedings in the chamber being completely packed. Only the families and lawyers of the defendants, in addition to the press, including The Daily Wire, were allowed into the judge’s courtroom.
Before Zastrow’s sentencing, Melissa, a woman who was attempting to enter Carafem the day of the sit-in, gave a statement to the court.
“I just wanted to say that, like, that was scary,” she said, saying that the pro-lifers make her felt “belittled for being a woman.”
During the incident, a group of pro-lifers gathered on the second floor of an office building in the hallway outside the Carafem abortion facility. The group prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic not to get abortions. No one present was charged with committing any violence.
During her comments on all three sentencings, Trauger was skeptical of the defendants’ “religious fervor,” saying that it made them lose their humanity. She said they “violated the law in order to impose their religious views on others.”
On Tuesday, Paul Vaughn, another present at the sit-in, also avoided prison time, receiving a similar sentence to both Green and Boyd. Chet Gallagher and Heather Idoni, two other defendants charged with conspiring against rights over the protest, are set to be sentenced later pending ongoing litigation. Idoni is behind bars in Virginia for a conviction related to a similar pro-life protest.
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