From January 6 participants to corrupt Biden family members, presidential pardons have been a huge topic this week, and Donald Trump just gave us 23 more to talk about.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump issued pardons for pro-life activists who were prosecuted by the Joe Biden administration under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which was signed into law in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton. The law federally criminalizes obstructing access to abortion clinics. This is yet another campaign trail promise that the president has fulfilled in less than a week in office. (How refreshing is it to have someone in office who does what he says he's going to do?)
"Twenty-three people were prosecuted who should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this," the president said as he issued the pardons from his desk in the Oval Office.
BREAKING: TRUMP PARDONS 23 PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS WRONGFULLY PROSECUTED & SOME IMPRISONED BY BIDEN
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) January 23, 2025
Watch: pic.twitter.com/sZbGgATgGN
Over the last few months, many pro-life private citizens, organizations, and politicians have called on Trump to make this move, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley who gave the following speech on the Senate floor on Thursday:
This is a time to turn the page. More than that, this is the time to right a wrong. President Trump could turn the chapter on this dark period of our history. He could right the wrongs that this last administration perpetrated. He could begin to restore the requirements that the conscience of our country puts in front of us. Mr. President, he can, again, renew the commitment that is found right there in our Constitution. That commitment to honor liberty of conscience, to honor the right to follow God, to live out our faith peaceably — which is exactly what these pro-life 'prisoners,' still prisoners, were doing. And so I urge him, I urge President Trump now from this floor to pardon these Americans unjustly persecuted, unjustly prosecuted, unjustly condemned. I urge him to pardon them and to provide once again the moral clarity and moral leadership for which this country is known. And to provide that moral clarity and moral leadership without which we cannot hope to lead the free world.
President Trump is reversing the wrongs of the sinister Biden DOJ, which shielded drug lords and granted clemency to murders while persecuting and imprisoning peaceful pro-life protestors.
— Heritage Action (@Heritage_Action) January 23, 2025
Thank you @RealDonaldTrump for reinstalling our country’s morals. @SenHawleyPress pic.twitter.com/zHM6fsAMgI
The pardons come on the eve of the annual March for Life event on the National Mall, which will take place on Friday, January 24. Trump is expected to address the crowd via video, while Vice President JD Vance will attend in person and give a speech.
"President Trump governed as a pro-life president during his first term, which resulted in a long list of accomplishments. We look forward to working with him and Vice President Vance as they dismantle the Biden Administration’s aggressive and unpopular abortion agenda and once again put wins on the board for vulnerable unborn children and their mothers," March for Life leaders Jeanne Mancini and Jennie Bradley said in a statement.
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