Young mother jailed for 3.5 years for blocking abortion entrance

CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of the latest developments in the U.S. regarding abortion and pro-life issues.

Young mother imprisoned for blocking abortion clinic entrance

Bevelyn Beatty Williams, a pro-life activist and mother of a toddler-aged daughter, began her three-and-a-half-year prison sentence on Wednesday after being convicted for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic.

Williams reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama, after the judge denied her appeal request, according to a statement she posted on Facebook on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old mom was sentenced to jail for three and a half years for taking part in a two-day pro-life protest where she blocked an entrance to a New York City Planned Parenthood in June 2020. She was convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

Williams received the second-longest prison sentence given in a recent series of FACE Act convictions, according to Live Action.

“Ministry doesn’t stop in jail,” Williams said in her statement, adding: “I want to be with my husband and my daughter, but that’s not happening right now.”

Florida pro-abortion ballot measure faces legal challenges

Local pro-life activists represented by former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson filed a lawsuit on Wednesday asking a circuit court to remove a pro-abortion ballot measure after a Florida government report found alleged “widespread petition fraud” by signature collectors.

The plaintiffs cite the Oct. 11 report by the state Office of Election Crimes and Security that claimed 16.4% of the petitions for the abortion measure should not have been validated, meaning that the amendment fell short of the number of valid signatures required.

State deputy secretary Brad McVay reported alleged illegal pay-per-petition compensation schemes, which the report says incentivizes petition collectors to forge signatures. The investigation also found that petition circulators allegedly “tampered with petition forms” and obtained other petitions by fraud.

If passed, Amendment 4 would prevent the government from restricting abortion up until the point of viability and up to birth in cases of the woman’s health.

The amendment would change the Florida Constitution to include a provision reading: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”

Live Action opens new advocacy organization

The pro-life group Live Action launched a new organization, Live Action Victory, last week to target Florida’s Amendment 4 and Missouri’s Amendment 3, two pro-abortion amendments that would permit abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.

Launched on Oct. 11, Live Action Victory is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt social welfare group designed “to advocate for preborn children in the political arena.”

The new organization will target misinformation about abortion ballot measures through a six-figure advertisement campaign, according to Noah Brandt, executive director of the new initiative.

Black market abortion pills

Abortion pills from Mexico and India are easily available in states where abortion is illegal or heavily regulated, a new report from a pro-life group says. 

The eight-page report by American Life League, a pro-life group based in Virginia, cited a Mexican website that mails abortion pills for free and instructs women to not tell medical staff that she took abortion pills if she needs to go to the hospital.

The report says anyone in the United States can order abortion pills online with no medical supervision and that federal agencies have shown no interest in stopping the practice.

Catholic World Report