A pro-lifer convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act has allegedly suffered a stroke after being kept in solitary confinement in prison — before even receiving sentencing.
Heather Idoni was found guilty in January of violating the FACE Act in Tennessee and of one count of “conspiracy against rights.” She, along with five other pro-lifers, each face up to 11 years in prison. Additionally, Idoni was found guilty on the same charges last Autumn, relating to a pro-life rescue held at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2020. In that trial, Idoni and seven of her eight co-defendants were all remanded to prison until sentencing, which will take place between May 14th and 17th.
Idoni is therefore facing up to a combined 50 years in prison and over $1 million in fines.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Idoni said she has been held in solitary confinement; similar information was also given in a press release from the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU).
According to Idoni, she was placed in solitary confinement for sharing food with other prisoners. She said she was allowed outside of her cell for just two hours a day, and only in the middle of the night, and that while in her cell, the lights were kept on non-stop. This allegedly took place at the Alexandria Detention Center, where she was held before being transferred to the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia.
LifeSiteNews also noted that Idoni was not only confined, but also shackled like a violent offender.
READ: All defendants were found guilty in second FACE Act trial. Read what one had to say.
“… [W]hen Idoni was brought into the courtroom for a pre-trial hearing in Detroit for yet another FACE Act trial, the U.S. marshal had the middle-aged woman shackled at the wrists, waist, and feet, as if she were a dangerous criminal,” reported the outlet. Fellow pro-lifer Cal Zastrow told LifeSiteNews that “the shocked judge ordered the shackles removed. Initially the marshal agreed to remove the shackles from only one wrist to allow Idoni freedom to write, a concession necessary for her to take notes, as she was then representing herself in court. Only at the insistence of the indignant judge were the shackles of both wrists finally removed, although the marshal left the bars around her waist and feet.”
Both PAAU and LifeSiteNews additionally reported that Idoni even suffered a stroke and had to be rushed to the hospital. She has since been stabilized, and will allegedly be returned to prison shortly.
“The ongoing abuse and mistreatment at this facility is sick and cruel and must be stopped before more people are killed by neglectful jail staff,” PAAU Executive Director Caroline Smith said in the press release. “This is elder abuse that is being perpetrated and paid for by the DOJ and the US Government. The Department of Justice should release Heather and grant her time served for her conviction. We do not want a dead Heather Idoni – we want a free Heather Idoni.”
