Attorneys questioned several witnesses on Tuesday as the ongoing FACE Act trials in Washington, D.C., saw their second round of rescuers undergoing government prosecution.
The day started with testimony from an abortion facility worker, appearing to use the pseudonym “Sasha Proctor,” who confronted rescuers as they entered the Washington Surgi-Clinic’s reception area on Oct. 22, 2020. Also testifying were a pregnant woman who visited the facility that day, as well as a police officer whose body cam footage revealed greater detail of the rescue and reactions from facility employees.
Ending the day was testimony from Caroline Davis, who was involved in the rescue on Oct. 22 but took a plea deal and testified against the defendants.
Her presence prompted a stir outside the courtroom as an unidentified bystander allegedly yelled that Davis was testifying against good people who would have defended her. That incident was reported to the court by FBI Special Agent Michael Biscardi, who also testified prior to Davis. Monica Miller, who was later identified as the person making the comment, told Live Action News she intended her remarks for Biscardi, not Davis.
John Machado, defendant Jean Marshall’s attorney, played a video showing “Proctor,” the facility worker, approaching rescuers. Machado asked whether her job included securing the premises. Machado suggested that the worker may have assaulted at least one of the rescuers, prompting a quick reprimand from Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
One of the exhibits appeared to show Marshall dropping into a chair inside the facility. The defense responded by asking the worker if she pushed Marshall. The worker denied doing so and maintained that her position that the facility allowed her to protect clients from people like rescuers.
READ: FACE Act trial for second group of defendants set to begin… with same judge
In both this week’s trial and with the first round of rescuers, the defense honed in on footage appearing to show an abortion facility worker approaching the rescuers with a broomstick. Rehumanize International Executive Director Herb Geraghty previously testified that the worker was using the broomstick for jabbing. “Proctor,” meanwhile, alleged on Tuesday that the employee had held the broomstick sideways in order to create a barrier against entering rescuers.
At one point, “Proctor” criticized the rescuers for their approach to women seeking abortion — there is a time and place for counseling, she argued, and the facility waiting room isn’t it. Instead, she suggested the rescuers were wrongly judging or pushing their views on people while purporting to be people of God. In her telling, the rescuers were proverbially kicking women while they were down rather than providing counseling at an appropriate time.
Rescues often entail dramatic and urgent action in order to save the lives of preborn children. This can include things like wearing locks and blocking facility doorways, as happened on Oct. 22, 2020. But these rescuers and others also offer resources and assistance to women while informing them that they have options besides abortion. At times, counseling is not feasible on sidewalks due to either facility location (for example, when the clinic is within a larger office building) or due to buffer zone laws disallowing pro-life speech within a certain distance of an abortion facility.
Entering the facilities to counsel or blocking entryways has been targeted by the FACE Act, under which Lauren Handy and others were convicted in the preceding trial. They and other rescuers faced a charge related to conspiracy to violate a person’s civil rights. Tuesday’s trial was the second of three that are set to occur in response to the 2020 rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, where notorious abortionist Cesare Santangelo has been caught indicating he wouldn’t provide certain lifesaving measures for babies born from botched abortions.
Tuesday’s witnesses included a pregnant woman who said multiple doctors warned that her baby had developmental problems and may not survive after birth. Her presence was notable in clinic footage, which showed her dropping to the ground while experiencing labor pains – apparently induced as part of a scheduled abortion.
Editor’s Note, 9/18/23: This article was updated/corrected with information about Monica Miller regarding comments made outside the courtroom.
