STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Michigan court paused the sentencing of several peaceful pro-life advocates until after the Donald Trump administration begins, according to a report from the Federalist.

Pro-lifers under scrutiny.

The court case highlights the intense scrutiny pro-life activists have faced under President Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ). It is characterized by harsh crackdowns on peaceful protests in front of abortion clinics which have become a defining feature of their partisan targeting against political opponents who don’t share their ideology.

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Pro-life advocates have even been defined as “radicalization suspects” by Biden’s Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Terrorism and Violence Prevention, according to the Washington Times.

Because of their support of abortion-on-demand, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) has been actively focusing their lawfare on pro-life advocates engaging peacefully with women outside abortion clinics in recent years. However, with Trump coming into office, that will most likely change.

A peaceful protest, a possible decade-long sentence.

One of the Michigan pro-life advocates who has had his sentencing delayed is Justin Phillips, a man who is known for his calm demeanor and commitment to saving lives.

Faithful resistance: standing up to save lives.

Phillips say about the event at the clinic, “We were worshiping the Lord and just trying to stop babies from being killed there, by just sitting in front of the door. When they told me, it was time to go or I get arrested, I stayed there. And then once they said, OK, you’re arrested, I stood up and they arrested me.”

Phillips, along with several other pro-life advocates, staged a sit-in outside the doors of an abortion clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on August 27, 2020. Their actions delayed a pregnant woman from entering the facility for approximately an hour. And because of that peaceful protest, Phillips and other protesters could go to federal prison for over a decade for being in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

The FACE Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits obstructing or interfering with individuals seeking, receiving, or providing what is termed as “reproductive health services.”

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The Biden Administration also established a “Reproductive Task Force” in the DOJ in August 2022 to “protect access to reproductive healthcare services and defend women’s fundamental rights.”

Waiting on Trump: Attorney calls out ‘wicked’ justice system in Phillips case.

While Phillips and seven others awaited sentencing, a status conference was held in November. At the conference, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Leitman from Michigan’s Eastern District told attorneys to stand down according to the Federalist report. The next status conference is scheduled to be the week of March 24th – after Trump’s inauguration.

David Peters, the Pacific Justice Institute attorney representing Phillips, told The Federalist that the judge directed DOJ prosecutors to consult with the new Civil Rights Division and political leadership under the Trump administration before moving forward.

The order from the judge says that the next status conference is “to receive a report from the Government trial team as to whether there has been any change in the Government’s position with respect to the continuation of this case and/or with respect to the positions expected to be advanced by the Defendants in their post-trial motions.”

Peters thinks the cases could be dismissed under the incoming Trump administration. He added, “I think the judges know it’s a political thing. The judicial system is supposed to seek for justice. It is really a crazy experience, seeing how wicked the justice system is.”

Hope on the horizon: Trump’s return could shift the scales.

With Donald Trump coming back to the Oval Office in January, there’s renewed hope among pro-lifers that justice and fairness will return to the courtroom. The court’s pause in Michigan appears to be a powerful signal that some in the judiciary recognizes the winds of change may soon blow. For pro-life advocates, this delay isn’t just a pause – it’s a chance for hope and justice to prevail in a system that has unfairly targeted them.

Trump signals pardons for pro-life activists.

President-elect Donald Trump has also hinted at granting presidential pardons to pro-life activists who are imprisoned or awaiting sentencing under federal charges brought by President Joe Biden’s DOJ according to a report from the Catholic News Agency.

The DOJ’s enforcement of the FACE Act has led to federal charges of more than 30 individuals for blocking access to abortion clinics. Among them are many elderly protesters who have received sentences ranging from two to nearly five years according to the Catholic News Agency.

Trump has repeatedly criticized these convictions, describing them as politically motivated and has vowed to act swiftly to secure their release upon taking office. In a June speech with the Faith and Freedom Coalition, he specifically mentioned pro-life activist 75-year-old Paulette Harlow saying, “Paulette is one of many peaceful pro-lifers who Joe Biden has rounded up, sometimes with SWAT teams, and thrown them in jail. Many people are in jail over this…We’re going to get that taken care of immediately – (on the) first day.”

He added that his administration would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime, including Paulette, so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.”

While the pro-life activists and their supporters wait for the upcoming Trump administration to come into office, they also point to the stark contrast between these prosecutions and the unsolved attacks on pro- life pregnancy centers and churches, which have remained mostly unaddressed by the DOJ.