Four members of the far-left militant group Jane’s Revenge pleaded guilty to felony charges in federal court for threatening and vandalizing crisis pregnancy centers in Florida last year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.
In March 2023, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a civil action against defendants Caleb Freestone, Amber Marie Smith-Stewart, Annarella Rivera, and Gabriella Victoria Oropesa for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, marking the first time a state attorney general used the FACE Act to hold protesters of pregnancy care centers accountable.
We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies.
In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys… pic.twitter.com/beVRRJG1JH
— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) July 25, 2024
The FACE Act provides for civil and criminal penalties against any person who “by force or threat of force…intentionally …intimidates or interferes with or attempts to…intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been…providing reproductive health services.”
The four defendants who vandalized at least three pregnancy centers in Florida – including spray painting the centers with “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you” – will be ordered to pay restitution to the targeted pregnancy centers and face up to 10 years in prison.
In addition, the defendants will be permanently banned from being within 100 feet of crisis pregnancy centers.
“We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies,” Attorney General Moody said in a statement.
“In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys did in this case to make sure these extremists were held accountable,” Moody added.
First Liberty Institute and Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC applauded Moody’s victory over the militant group members. These entities also filed a lawsuit against two members of the militant group for their involvement in attacking Florida pregnancy centers.
“The entry of these felony plea agreements serves as a reminder that no one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys.
“Attorney General Moody’s leadership, together with our lawsuit, sends a clear message: those who target life-affirming reproductive health facilities with violence will face the legal penalties Congress established for their crimes,” Dys added.
A federal grand jury issued a criminal indictment against the two militant members named in First Liberty Institute’s lawsuit on January 18, 2023.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
