Lauren Handy, director of activism for Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, poses for a portrait in Washington, D.C. on April 2, 2022. (Photo by Eric Lee for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
During the jury trial last year, Handy and another co-defendant, Herb Geraghty, referenced pro-life organization Live Action's "Inhuman: Undercover in America's Late-Term Abortion Industry" video as influencing their decision to participate in the blockade.
One part of the video, released a decade ago, shows Santangelo telling an undercover woman if she went into labor and delivered before the "termination part of the procedure" was carried out, "then we would not help it."
Following the indictment, remains of apparently aborted unborn babies were found in Handy's Washington home, prosecutors said.
According to the October 2022 indictment, using a fabricated identity, Handy secured an appointment at the clinic, and as a clinic staff member opened the door, pro-life activists emerged from the building’s emergency stairwell and invaded the facility. The incident resulted in an altercation that led to a clinic employee being hospitalized for an ankle injury, prosecutors said.
FOR A LOUISIANA LAWMAKER, EXEMPTING INCEST AND RAPE FROM THE STATE'S ABORTION BAN IS PERSONAL
People protest about abortion, Friday, June 24, 2022, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The judge told Handy that she was being punished for her actions, not her beliefs.
"The law does not protect violent nor obstructive conduct, nor should it," Kollar-Kotelly said.
Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of roughly six years for Handy. They described her as an anti-abortion extremist who was a "criminal mastermind" behind the Washington invasion and similar attacks on other clinics.
"Her strongly held anti-abortion beliefs led her to devise a plan to block access to the Surgi-clinic," prosecutors wrote. "The blockade, which was broadcast to Handy’s legion of followers, encouraged others to commit similar crimes, publicized her own offense, and traumatized the victims."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pro-life-activist-lauren-handy-sentenced-nearly-5-years-prison