On Monday, March 11, Steven Clark Lefemine was found guilty of a misdemeanor violation of the FACE Act in a South Carolina federal court. Charges stemmed from an incident on November 15, 2022, in which Lefemine blocked the entrance to a Planned Parenthood facility in Columbia, South Carolina, and refused to move unless “they agree not to kill babies today,” according to a video shown during his trial.
Lefemine was originally arrested by local authorities on a trespassing charge. He was tried and convicted of that charge in Columbia earlier this year, and received a $465 fine. However, federal authorities indicted Lefemine on additional FACE Act charges in February of last year.
The Planned Parenthood facility whose entrance Lefemine was convicted for blocking has a shady history of repeated medical emergencies. In addition, routine inspections by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control have repeatedly uncovered numerous violations at this facility. In fact, its history of health and safety violations is so dire that the facility was nearly shut down by the state in 2015.
READ: Another medical emergency at South Carolina Planned Parenthood
Lefemine is the latest defendant to be convicted in a series of recent FACE Act trials. In August of last year, five defendants – Lauren Handy, Will Goodman, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty – were convicted of felony “conspiracy against rights” and felony FACE Act violations in relation to an October 2020 rescue action at the Washington, D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Center.
A second group of three defendants – Joan Andrews Bell, Jonathan Darnel, and Jean Marshall – were convicted on the same charges last September, in association with the same October 2020 rescue. And in November, the final defendant charged for participation in the Washington, D.C. rescue, Paulette Harlow, was also convicted.
In January of this year, six defendants – Chet Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Cal Zastrow, Coleman Boyd, Paul Vaughn, and Dennis Green – were tried and convicted of felony “conspiracy against rights” and felony FACE Act violations in relation to a March 2021 rescue at a Carafem abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. These defendants and the nine defendants tried in Washington, D.C. (one individual, Heather Idoni, was tried and convicted in both cases) are all facing up to 11 years in federal prison in addition to $260,000 in fines each.
Lefemine, by contrast, faces up to six months in federal prison and up to $10,000 in fines. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled, but U.S. Judge Joe Anderson, who presided over the case, indicated he would pass sentence in approximately two months.
