6 activists convicted of illegally blocking abortion clinic in Tennessee
ABC News
A Tennessee jury has convicted six anti-abortion protesters of violating federal laws after they blocked the entrance of a reproductive clinic outside Nashville nearly three years ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Tennessee jury has convicted six anti-abortion protesters of violating federal laws after they blocked the entrance of a reproductive clinic outside Nashville nearly three years ago.
The jury's decision, handed down late Tuesday after a weeklong trial, marks the latest development in a case that has been closely watched by conservative groups, who have accused the federal government of unfairly targeting abortion opponents by using 1994 federal law designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. Reproductive rights supporters counter the law, known as Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or the FACE Act, is more critical than ever in shielding abortion providers from violence now that the constitutional right to abortion has been revoked.
At issue is a 2021 “blockade” held outside a reproductive health clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, a town 17 miles (27.36 kilometers) east of Nashville, nearly a year before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The event was organized by anti-abortion supporters who used social media to promote and live-stream actions that they hoped would prevent the clinic from performing abortions, according to court documents.
At the time, abortion was still legal in Tennessee. It is now currently banned at all stages of pregnancy under a law that has very narrow exemptions.
Prosecutors say participants stationed themselves throughout the office building where carafem health clinic was located and, later, several began recording themselves “leading a rescue,” a term commonly known among anti-abortion activists as dissuading women from obtaining an abortion. Prosecutors added that videos from that day showed people blocking the clinic's entrances and others attempting to engage with police as a delay tactic. Around 20 people attended the blockade.
