WASHINGTON, DC — Paul Vaughn, one of 23 pro-life activists pardoned by President Donald Trump, told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday he is “overjoyed” by Trump’s decision.
“What I mostly rejoice for is the ones who were in prison that are out today, some of them walking around here at the march with us today,” he said during the March for Life. “And just rejoicing that a little bit of justice has been done in these cases.”
Vaughn was convicted alongside five others under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion clinic, where they gathered to “pray, sing hymns, worship, and counsel women,” according to the Thomas More Society. Days after he was indicted by the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ), Vaughn was arrested by the FBI at home in front of his wife and children.
While others faced prison time, Vaughn was placed on supervised release.
Though Vaughn celebrates Trump’s action, he noted there are “still injustices that can’t be righted” by a pardon alone.
“One side is, it’s great. President Trump kept his promises. He came in and issued the pardons,” he said. “The other side of the coin is there is still not justice for all those that spent over a year in jail. For those of us who were persecuted, arrested, on house arrest, went through a long ordeal of a federal trial with their families, had the FBI show up and terrorize their kids and their house.”
“We’re still seeking how to best navigate post-pardon legal strategies and things of that nature,” he told the DCNF.
During recorded remarks played at the march, Trump said it was his “honor” to grant full pardons to pro-life activists who were “victims” of a weaponized Biden DOJ.
“Never again will religious persecution be allowed to happen in America,” he told the crowd.
Vice President JD Vance, in his first speech since taking office, told the audience he wants “more babies in the United States of America.”
“It is the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids — to bring them into the world and to welcome them as the blessings that we know they are,” he said.
The DOJ instituted policy in a memo Friday barring any new FACE Act prosecutions without the authorization of the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. It also dismissed three ongoing cases against pro-life activists.
The 1994 FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain or provide reproductive health services.”
“Even though more than 100 crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches were attacked in the immediate aftermath of the Dobbs decision, nearly all prosecutions under the FACE Act have been against pro-life protesters. That is not the even-handed administration of justice,” the DOJ memo obtained by the Daily Caller states.
Vaughn told the DCNF he wants to thank Trump for keeping his word and granting the pardons but also highlighted the need for “consistency.”
“We have to be consistent in our pro-life stand,” he said. “Babies, from the moment of conception, are humans. Human life equals human rights.”
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
