7 convicted of blocking access to abortion clinic in suburban Detroit
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/08/2024 (472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — Seven anti-abortion activists have been convicted of crimes related to blocking a clinic in suburban Detroit in 2020.
“These defendants are entitled to their views, but they are not entitled to prevent others from exercising the rights secured to them by the laws of the United States,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.
The seven sat or stood in front of the entrance to a clinic in Sterling Heights so that patients and employees could not enter, the government said.
They interfered with a couple seeking to keep an appointment to end a pregnancy after learning that a 14-week-old fetus would not survive, the government said.
After a trial in federal court, the seven were found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy against rights and a second charge related to blocking clinic access. Two of the seven were also convicted of a separate access charge at a clinic in Saginaw.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman said he would consider in the months ahead a request to dismiss the conspiracy charge. Defense lawyers said it’s based on a 1870 federal law intended to stop the Ku Klux Klan from violating the rights of Blacks.
“The Department of Justice’s novel strategy to inflict maximize pain upon peaceful pro-lifers by adding a charge … cannot be squared with the law and we stand ready to make that case,” attorney Steve Crampton said.