President Donald Trump issued a series of pardons for anti-abortion activists convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, but at least one recipient sought to reject the clemency.
Herb Geraghty, a 28-year-old activist from Pennsylvania, told Newsweek on Friday he was worried that receiving a pardon he didn't request would make it harder to appeal his conviction.
"I had this plan with the appeal, and I didn't want to jeopardize it," Geraghty said.
Why It Matters
Geraghty in 2020 helped fellow abortion foe Lauren Handy organize a siege and blockade at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C., as activists used locks and chains to link themselves and block doors at the women's health center. A nurse was injured and a woman in labor was accosted during the attack. After Handy's indictment, police found five fetuses in her home. In May, she was sentenced to a prison term of about five years.
Geraghty was convicted in August 2023 of violating federal law in the blockade. He was also sentenced in May, to 27 months in prison. After serving 17 of them, he received the pardon from Trump.
When Was Roe v. Wade Overturned?
Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. This decision ended the constitutional right to abortion and returned the issue to individual states.
Who Did Donald Trump Pardon?
Trump pardoned Handy, Geraghty and eight of their codefendants: Jonathan Darnel of Virginia; Jay Smith, John Hinshaw and William Goodman, all of New York; Joan Bell of New Jersey; Paulette Harlow and Jean Marshall, both of Massachusetts; and Heather Idoni of Michigan.
Geraghty told Newsweek that he has briefly spoken with Handy and Bell since being pardoned and is "grateful" that his codefendants, particularly the older ones, are free.
"Prison is a really tough environment for anyone, but particularly older people and those with chronic health conditions, which made up a lot of my co-defendants. It's hard knowing that they were in there, suffering the conditions that they were, and so the fact that they got out, I am incredibly grateful."
What To Know
Shocked upon learning he'd been pardoned by the president, Geraghty told Newsweek that he asked a prison worker if he could speak with his lawyer.
"'I need to talk to my lawyer first, I think I'm going to reject this pardon,' to which she was just like, completely dumbfounded," Geraghty recalled, learning he must accept it.
"Eventually, they pulled me out, and said, 'We got the paperwork. You got to go,'" he said.
Geraghty's hesitation stemmed from wanting to preserve his ability to appeal his original conviction on the FACE Act.
"In the wake of Dobbs [v. Jackson Women's Health Organization], I just don't believe that it makes sense for the federal government to be hyper-criminalizing a particular type of non-violent protest based on the message that's being said."
"I am hopeful that, originally, FACE could be justified by saying, 'Well, the federal government does play a role, because abortion is a federal right, and Congress has a duty to protect that right. The Dobbs decision made it very clear that there has never been a federal constitutional right to abortion."
What People Are Saying
Trump, while signing pardons for the "peaceful pro-life protesters" on January 23: "They should not have been prosecuted."
Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations for national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All: "Donald Trump on the campaign trail tried to have it both ways — bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade while saying he wasn't going to take action on abortion. We never believed that that was true, and this shows us that we were right."
What's Next
Geraghty said he will continue anti-abortion advocacy and connect pregnant women with free resources.
"I really do hope that pro-life people recognize that this is not the pro-life win of the Trump administration. What we're looking for is to help mothers in crisis and the elimination of unborn child killing in the law," he said.
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