President Donald Trump announced Thursday he would pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances.Related video above: Trump administration goes offense on immigration while defending pardons of Jan. 6 riotersTrump called it 맥스카지노�a great honor to sign this.맥스카지노�"They should not have been prosecuted," he said as he signed pardons for "peaceful pro-life protesters.맥스카지노�The people pardoned were involved in the October 2020 invasion and blockade of a Washington clinic.Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for leading the blockade by directing blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains to block the clinic맥스카지노�s doors. A nurse sprained her ankle when one person pushed her while entering the clinic, and a woman was accosted by another blockader while having labor pains, prosecutors said. Police found five fetuses in Handy맥스카지노�s home after she was indicted.Trump pardoned Handy and her nine co-defendants: 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; Heather Idoni of Michigan; and Herb Geraghty of Pennsylvania.In the first week of Trump맥스카지노�s presidency, anti-abortion advocates have ramped up calls for Trump to pardon protesters charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. The 1994 law was passed during a time where clinic protests and blockades were on the rise, as was violence against abortion providers, such as the murder of Dr. David Gunn in 1993.Trump specifically mentioned Harlow in a June speech criticizing former President Joe Biden맥스카지노�s Department of Justice for pursuing charges against protesters involved in blockades.맥스카지노�Many people are in jail over this,맥스카지노� he said in June, adding, 맥스카지노�We맥스카지노�re going to get that taken care of immediately.맥스카지노�Abortion rights advocates slammed Trump맥스카지노�s pardons as evidence of his opposition to abortion access, despite his vague, contradictory statements on the issue as he attempted to find a middle ground on the campaign trail between anti-abortion allies and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.맥스카지노�Donald Trump on the campaign trail tried to have it both ways 맥스카지노� bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade while saying he wasn맥스카지노�t going to take action on abortion,맥스카지노� said Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations for the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All. 맥스카지노�We never believed that that was true, and this shows us that we were right.맥스카지노�The legal group Thomas More Society argued the FACE Act defendants they represent had been 맥스카지노�unjustly imprisoned.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�They have been heartened during their imprisonment and unjust prosecutions by your repeated messages to them during your campaign, urging them to persevere until you were able to take office, review their cases, and free them,맥스카지노� the legal group said in a January letter to Trump.Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, among Trump맥스카지노�s most loyal supporters, called the prosecution of anti-abortion protesters 맥스카지노�a grotesque assault on the principles of this country맥스카지노� and urged Trump to pardon them while reading the stories of such anti-abortion protesters on the Senate floor Thursday. He highlighted Eva Edl, who was involved in a 2021 Tennessee clinic blockade and whose story has garnered attention from the largest national anti-abortion groups.Hawley said he 맥스카지노�had a great conversation맥스카지노� Thursday morning with Trump about the protesters.The news of the pardons comes ahead of Friday맥스카지노�s annual anti-abortion protest March for Life in Washington, where the president is expected to address the crowd in a video.