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Lauren Handy
Handy attending a protest in January 2022, holding a red sign and roses while standing in front of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.
Handy in 2022 protesting capital punishment
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
OccupationAnti-abortion activist
Criminal statusPardoned
Conviction(s)Violation of Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (18 U.S.C. § 248)
Criminal penalty57 months in prison; 3 years of supervised release

Lauren Handy is a progressive American activist best known for her anti-abortion work. She has been arrested a number of times for her activism, including a conviction for violating the FACE Act, which led to time in jail and a pardon by Donald Trump.

Life and education

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Handy grew up as a Southern Baptist.[1] Her father is a painter.[1] She was molested as a child by a non-family member.[1]

Handy is a queer convert to Catholicism.[2][3][4] As the Catholic Church teaches that sexual acts outside of marriage are sinful, she remains celibate.[1]

She attended Central Virginia Community College with the intent of working in a museum as an art historian.[1][2] While there, she was both pro-life and agnostic.[2] As she tells it, a student at nearby Liberty University invited her to go sidewalk counseling.[2]

Handy was moved by the experience of seeing women walking into an abortion clinic, and started to attend church several days a week.[2] Six weeks later she skipped her final exams, dropped out of school, sold all her belongings, and moved to California to become a full-time activist with Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.[1][2]

She has lived with several congregations of the Missionaries of Charity, including one in Haiti, where she worked in a hospice.[1][2]

Activism

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Handy is an anarcho-mutualist, and she opposes abortion and the death penalty.[2][3][5]

Handy believes abortion is an act of violence, and she therefore wants to interrupt this cycle of violence.[1][2] Handy claims she does so through employing non-violent principles and tactics,[1] but this perspective was disputed during her trial.[6]

Handy has been involved with a number of activist organizations.[3] Handy has been in a leadership role of the Red Rose Rescue movement since its founding.[3] As a sidewalk counselor, Handy employs an LGBT+ inclusive message and has been to more than 100 abortion clinics in more than 32 states.[3][2] Handy is currently the Director of Activism for the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising.[4]

The Cut reports that she began her activism by simply dropping off literature about alternatives to abortion inside abortion clinics.[1] Handy began entering abortion facilities to speak to pregnant women in 2013.[2]

Handy stands outside a Washington, D.C., Planned Parenthood facility three or four times a week, telling people that "there is free help available for you and your family."[1] She claims to have helped over 800 families chose to give birth rather than have an abortion.[3][2] Handy claims one abortionist sued her for loss of revenue after she helped 12 women find the resources they needed and the women decided not to have abortions.[2]

She says that when she is arrested that charges are often dropped or sentences suspended.[2] She purposely does not earn wages, so her wages cannot be garnished in a lawsuit.[1] She supports herself with donations and occasional graphic design jobs.[1]

2019 Flint Township incident

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In 2019, Handy and four others conducted what they called a "pink rose rescue" at the Women's Center of Flint in Flint Township, Michigan.[7] They entered the facility, handed roses to women in the waiting room, and sang songs.[7] When they refused to leave, forcing police to carry them, they were charged with felony resisting arrest, misdemeanor trespass and disturbing the peace.[7] Handy ultimately spent four days in jail.[1]

2020 Washington, DC incident

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On October 22, 2020, Handy made an appointment at a facility performing abortions in Washington, D.C. under a fake name.[8][9] Once inside, she and four others from the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising used their bodies, chains, ropes, and furniture to block the doors.[1][8][9] The protest was livestreamed on Facebook.[8]

On May 14, 2024, Handy was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.[6][10][11] Her defense lawyer argued that she was only a genuine activist who was simply involved in an act of peaceful, non-violent protest.[6][10] The prosecution disputed this characterization, using testimony and surveillance footage as evidence.[6][10]

One patient testified that she came to the clinic for an abortion because of a diagnosis indicating that her fetus would not survive outside the womb.[10] She testified that she collapsed in pain whilst her husband begged Handy and her compatriots to let her into the clinic.[10] Surveillance footage was also entered into evidence showing another patient attempting to break in through a window to bypass the blockade, as well as showing a clinic employee being knocked down into the ground and sustaining a knee sprain.[6]

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the "law does not protect violent and obstructive conduct."[6] Kollar-Kotelly did, however, agree with the defense lawyer's argument that Handy was a principled activist and so reduced her sentence from 63-78 months to 57 months plus three years probation, during which she could not come within 1000 feet of a reproductive health clinic without authorization.[6]

On January 23, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Handy and her nine co-defendants.[12]

2021 Alexandria incident

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In November 2021, Handy and five others entered the waiting room of an Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic.[4] Once inside, they handed pink roses to women who were scheduled to undergo abortions.[4]. They also handed out information on resources available to them and their children, and information on alternatives to abortion.[4] A spokesperson for Handy's Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising told The Pillar that five women chose not to have abortions as a result of the pink rose rescue.[4]

Handy was sentenced to 30 days in jail for trespass.[13][14]

2022 fetal remains incident

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On March 25, 2022, Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac were sidewalk counseling outside of Washington Surgi-Clinic in D.C. when they claim to have seen a medical waste disposal company's truck parked outside.[1][2] They say they approached the driver and asked if they could give the aborted children inside the boxes a “proper funeral.”[2] Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services has refuted this claim, stating it does not transport fetal remains by company policy and has also denied that any package was ever handed over.[15]

They took the box back to Handy's apartment and, with a deacon present, opened the box with a video camera running.[2][16] Inside the box they discovered 115 aborted fetuses, including five they believed were old enough to be viable outside of the womb.[2][8] This would mean the facility violated the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.[17]

Handy and Bukovinac suspected one fetus may have been born alive and left to die outside the womb, and another was a partial-birth abortion.[2][18][19] They put what they believed to be the older children into the refrigerator at Handy's house while they tried to find a pathologist, and Handy temporarily moved in with Bukovinac.[2] They then contacted lawyers, priests, and other experts to determine how they should proceed.[1]

Two days later, a Catholic priest said a funeral Mass for the 115 fetuses; each was given a name that was read at the Mass.[2][8][16] The bodies were then buried in a cemetery.[2][16]

The pair then hired a lawyer to contact the D.C. Medical Examiner.[1][2][8] On March 29, they asked for autopsies to be performed and homicide investigations opened.[2] That evening, Handy left her apartment door unlocked so that police could enter.[1][2] On the morning of March 30, when Handy returned to her apartment, she was met by FBI agents and arrested.[2] Bukovinac then entered Handy's apartment and found the bodies still there.[2] Later that day, the Washington DC police removed the remains of 5 fetuses from Handy's apartment with Bukovinac present.[8][2][20]

The D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office said the five fetuses recovered from Handy’s home all appear to have been aborted in accordance with D.C. law, and that while there were no plans to conduct an autopsy, an inquiry was ongoing as to the origin of the remains and how they were obtained.[15][21]

Neither Handy nor Bukovinac were ever charged with a crime in relation to the incident,[8][9] but Handy's landlord terminated her lease.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Resnick, Sofia (August 30, 2023). "Why Were There Fetuses in Her Refrigerator? How a radical abortion opponent ended up dumpster-diving for remains". The Cut.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac "Lauren Handy: 'These children were murdered'". The Pillar. April 5, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Our Team". Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Lauren Handy jailed as pro-life 'rescue' movement returns". The Pillar. July 12, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  5. ^ Geraghty, Herb (April 6, 2022). "Lauren Handy, PAAU, and the Fetal Remains". Rehumanize International.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Fischer, Jordan (May 14, 2024). "Anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy sentenced to more than 4 years in prison for orchestrating DC clinic invasion". wusa9.com. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Fonger, Ron (August 26, 2019). "Judge lets felony charges stick against Flint Township abortion clinic protesters". Michigan Live. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Patil, Anushka (August 30, 2023). "Anti-Abortion Activist Who Kept Fetuses Is Convicted in Clinic Blockade". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Sherman, Carter (August 29, 2023). "US anti-abortion activist who kept fetal remains convicted of blockading clinic". The Guardian. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d e Fisher, Jordan (August 17, 2023). "'Please let her go' | Husband begged anti-abortion activists to let wife into clinic after she collapsed in pain, jury hears". WUSA9].
  11. ^ "Office of Public Affairs | Six Defendants Convicted of Federal Civil Rights Conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act Offenses for Obstructing Access to Reproductive Health Services in Tennessee | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. January 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Fernando, Christine. "Trump pardons anti-abortion activists who blockaded clinic entrances". ABC News. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  13. ^ Boorstein, Michelle (July 12, 2022). "Antiabortion activists sentenced for trespassing at Alexandria clinic". Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  14. ^ Salai, Sean (November 17, 2021). "Abortion protesters arrested, fined for occupying Alexandria clinic". Washington Times.
  15. ^ a b Leshan, Bruce; Baca, Nathan; Fischer, Jordan; Phillips, Susan (April 5, 2022). "Lauren Handy's anti-abortion group now claims it took 115 fetuses from outside DC clinic". WUSA9. WUSA-TV. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Boorstein, Michelle (April 25, 2022). "After a secret funeral for fetal remains, a priest faced a choice". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  17. ^ "Lauren Handy Claims to Have Actually Had 115 Fetuses". Washingtonian. April 5, 2022. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  18. ^ Lampen, Claire (April 6, 2022). "5 Fetuses Found Inside Anti-Abortion Activist's Home". The Cut. Vox Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  19. ^ Patil, Anushka (August 30, 2023). "Anti-Abortion Activist Who Kept Fetuses Is Convicted in Clinic Blockade". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  20. ^ Fischer, Jordan; Leshan, Bruce; Baca, Nathan; Phillips, Susan (March 31, 2022). "'People would freak out when they heard' 5 fetuses discovered in house where anti-abortion activist was staying". WUSA9. WUSA-TV. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  21. ^ Boorstein, Michelle; Hermann, Peter (April 1, 2022). "D.C. Medical Examiner has no plans to autopsy fetuses removed from antiabortion activist's home, officials say". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
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