DETROIT—Two pro-life activists on trial for protesting a Michigan abortion facility back in 2020 spoke about their Christian faith Monday as the trial moved to closing arguments.
Chester Gallagher and Heather Idoni invoked their faith on the final day of argumentation for the trial of seven pro-life activists, which began on August 9. The seven, who were targeted by the Biden administration’s Justice Department, are on trial for allegations that they violated the FACE Act and engaged in a “conspiracy against rights.”
Both Gallagher and Idoni opted to represent themselves, meaning that they were able to present arguments in their own defense with help from lawyers standing by. Gallagher is being aided by Steve Crampton of the Thomas Moore Society.
Idoni, who has been incarcerated for months over a conviction on similar charges, began by reading from Proverbs 24:10-12 which calls on Christians to “rescue those being led away to death.” She said that “my life has been very much formed by these verses,” adding that the group was motivated because “we love God and revere His word.”
Idoni, who has arrived in court handcuffed and with leg shackles on, denied accusations that the group had a “martyrdom complex,” saying that she did not have “any desire to go to jail.”
Gallagher, a former police officer, talked about how the jury should pay attention to the group’s demeanor while at the Northland.
He said that the case was about much more than “sincerely held religious beliefs” and that the “heart of the matter” was that there was a “creator that compels me to do what I do.” He said that he was there “to intervene” because of his love for Jesus and that he did not want to see “entire families” be destroyed by abortion.
Others on trial include Joel Curry, Justin Phillips, Cal Zastrow, his daughter Eva Zastrow, and 89-year-old communist concentration camp survivor Eva Edl. They face over 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted.
The charges stem from a peaceful demonstration, which the defendants called a “Rescue,” where the group sat and stood outside of the Northland Family Planning Clinic in Sterling, Michigan, alongside a group of other pro-life activists. Edl and Idoni face an additional charge for a pro-life protest they attended at the Women’s Health Clinic in Saginaw, Michigan.
The jury, composed of five men and seven women, will begin deliberating on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. local time at the Theodore Levin Federal Courthouse in Detroit. The case is being overseen by Judge Matthew Leitman, an Obama appointee.
The courtroom gallery was packed Monday with more than two dozen supporters of the defendants and others. Several of the group gathered outside the courtroom on Monday morning to sing hymns like “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” and “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.”
U.S. Attorney Frances Carlson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunita Doddamani delivered closing arguments for the Justice Department.
During her remarks, Carlson said that the defendants “anointed themselves rescuers” and that the women they interacted with “did not need to be rescued.” She said that they should be found guilty “even if the Holy Spirit” led them to be involved, and even though they were peaceful.
Doddamani later echoed these comments when she said that being peaceful, being elderly, and having religious beliefs was not an excuse to break the law.
Lawyers for the defendants emphasized that their clients’ primary goal was to “save babies from slaughter,” not to intimidate anyone.
During the closing arguments, a heated exchange broke out between Leitman and attorney David Peters, who is representing Phillips.
Peters began his argument by referencing parts of the Bible that show the humanity of the unborn before explaining the history of the “conspiracy against rights” statute, which was intended to stop hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, not peaceful protesters. The government objected, and Leitman ordered the jury out of the room. After the jury left, Leitman criticized Peters for going “way over the line,” saying his remarks were “more like a Sunday sermon than a closing argument.”
Later, Leitman grew upset with Peters after the attorney invoked John Adams’ remark that the Constitution was made for a “moral and religious people.” Leitman said that he was setting the stage for jury nullification, where a member of the jury votes not to convict based on a moral objection to the law.
This is the Biden administration’s latest attempt to sue pro-life activists using its novel interpretation of the “conspiracy against rights” statute. Previous groups have been found guilty of the charge in Tennessee and Washington, D.C. Some were sentenced to prison.
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