Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2025 / 20:30 pm

Pro-life activist Paul Vaughn received the news that President Donald Trump had pardoned him, along with 22 other pro-life demonstrators, on Thursday in the middle of a press conference with his lawyers at the Thomas More Society.

“I have a lot of thoughts,” he told CNA. “It’s a big ordeal, and it’s been a long time going through all this.”

The pardon put an end to the Biden administration’s prosecution of Vaughn and his fellow pro-life activists, among whom were several elderly and infirm women who were serving time in prison for peacefully protesting abortion.

Vaughn was one of 11 pro-life activists convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for a demonstration outside of a Tennessee abortion clinic in March 2021.

Prosecutors had unsuccessfully sought a one-year prison sentence for him, but he was ultimately sentenced to three years of supervised release in July 2024. Prior to the pardon, Vaughn’s case was on appeal.

Vaughn had been taking part in the conference about free speech and the abortion pill reversal process alongside several senior members of the religious liberty law firm when Steve Crampton, senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, interrupted the discussion.

Crampton read aloud a social media post announcing that Trump had signed pardons for the 23 convicted pro-life activists. Those gathered for the event rose to their feet and erupted in applause, while Vaughn and his legal team shook hands joyfully.

“On one side, it’s great to see a president like Donald Trump who understands the injustice that has gone on,” Vaughn later told CNA. “On the other side of the coin, it doesn’t erase the injustice that my family and the other 22 pro-lifers have endured for the last two years at Biden’s DOJ.”

“We won’t get that back,” he added.

Calling the pardon “a mixed bag,” Vaughn said he is both “rejoicing” with his family and co-defendants and hoping that “we do better as a nation going forward.”

“Lord willing,” he said of the jailed pro-life activists who were among those that received a pardon, “[they] will be eating dinner with their families tonight and not in the federal pen, with, you know, bologna sandwiches and whatever.”

Vaughn’s wife, Bethany, told CNA that while she is happy about the pardon, she hopes her husband will pursue his appeals case and ultimately win so that future prosecutions may be prevented from happening.

A video posted on social media shows Trump signing the pardons on Thursday afternoon after telling the press: “Twenty-three people were prosecuted. They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them were elderly people.”

“It’s a great honor to sign this,” the president said as he signed the order.

Last week, the Thomas More Society petitioned the incoming president to issue 21 individual pardons for pro-life advocates who were arrested for violating the FACE Act, including several who were elderly and in poor health.

“These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by [President Joe] Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest — all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the petition stated.