Paulette Harlow is a 75-year-old grandmother from Kingston, Massachusetts. She has six children and is also the proud grandmother of 8. Jean Marshall, her sister, is 74 years old and a pro-life nurse. The Biden-Harris Department of Justice has decided that these elderly and infirm women are “violent criminals” who deserve to be locked up in federal prison.

For standing up for the unborn, these two Catholic sisters have been sentenced to 24 months each for the “crime” of peacefully protesting abortion.

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Grandmas in federal prison?

The two women are ailing, and prison exacerbates their poor health. Jean suffers from osteoporosis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and hip pain—which was supposed to be treated with a pre-sentencing scheduled surgery that she can’t have while in prison.

Paulette, often in need of a wheelchair, suffers from diabetes, liver disease, arthritis, neuropathy in both feet, and more. Tragically, her husband, John, believes that she may die while in prison. Despite this, the two women have no regrets about their pro-life advocacy.

“The children, they have no voice and they’re hidden,” said Paulette.

“That is as poor as you can get. You can’t even protect your own life. We have to make them visible and make them heard.”

In October of 2020, the two women participated in a pro-life sit-in protest with a group of other pro-life activists at notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo’s Washington, D.C. abortion business, to bring attention to the radical practices of Santangelo’s dangerous facility.

The demonstration is reminiscent of Civil Rights movement “sit-ins,” which created a visceral image against injustice that was widely accepted in society at the time. Santangelo has been caught in undercover footage admitting that he would leave born-alive babies after botched abortions to die without necessary care. Moreover, Paulette and Jean’s co-defendant and other Thomas More Society client, Lauren Handy, later discovered the remains of aborted babies have been found outside his abortion facility, including the “D.C. 5”—five late-term aborted babies, some of whom appear to have been victims of illegal partial-birth abortion.

How the Biden-Harris DOJ is weaponing the FACE Act

More than a year and a half after the fact, the Biden-Harris DOJ brought Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and felony “Conspiracy Against Rights” charges against Paulette and Jean—charges that carry over a decade in federal prison.

The FACE Act has been weaponized against pro-lifers since it became law under President Bill Clinton in 1994, with 97% of all prosecutions targeting pro-lifers—despite the law supposedly protecting churches and pro-life pregnancy centers in addition to abortion businesses. First time violations generally carry between 6 months to a year in jail, but under the Biden-Harris administration, there’s more to the story.

Paulette, Jean, and Lauren’s trial in Washington, D.C. was the first in which the Biden-Harris DOJ brought this novel addition of “Conspiracy Against Rights” charges—also known as the “KKK Act”—against peaceful pro-lifers, a charge that alone carries up to 10 years in prison.

Astonishingly, the “Conspiracy Against Rights” law is a Reconstruction-era law enacted to protect the voting rights of freed African Americans who faced violent reprisals from the Klu Klux Klan. Now, it’s being used to target prayerful, elderly pro-lifers engaging in peaceful protest.

Paulette and Jean will not back down

Despite their dire circumstances and poor health, the two pro-life advocates remain hopeful.

And Thomas More Society has their back.

Paulette and Jean didn’t think about themselves or the risks that they may face by speaking out against the abortion industry—all they could think about were the innocent children that Santangelo’s abortion business kills every day, and how if they didn’t advocate for them, nobody would.

In a way, they have “adopted” the vulnerable preborn as their own grandchildren. For that, the Biden-Harris DOJ has branded them as “violent criminals” charged under felonies that carry jail sentences exceeding a decade in prison.

Thomas More Society is fighting to secure freedom for Paulette and Jean, by appealing their convictions in federal court—which is the next step in the fight to challenge the constitutionality of the FACE Act.

The Biden-Harris DOJ has, for too long, fought to imprison peaceful pro-lifers for taking a courageous stand for the unborn. Thomas More Society attorneys are now in the midst of a critical legal battle to restore the rights of these heroic pro-lifers, to make sure the FACE Act is never weaponized against peaceful pro-life advocates like Paulette and Jean.

To learn more about the Thomas More Society appeal on behalf of pro-life advocate Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, and Lauren Handy, please visit our case page here.