By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal | February 16, 2025
Pro-lifers convicted under the FACE Act and released from prison after President Donald Trump pardoned them on Jan. 24 tell The Daily Signal they are grateful to God and to Trump for returning them to their families.
Trump pardoned 23 pro-lifers who were convicted for actions including praying outside abortion clinics and encouraging women in unplanned pregnancies to choose life.
“They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted,” the president said.
The Daily Signal spoke to several of the pardoned pro-life advocates, who thanked the president for setting them free.
The predecessor Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department had brought criminal or civil cases under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act against at least 50 pro-life advocates. Twenty-three were convicted. Ten were released from prison after the pardons.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, are now leading the charge in Congress to repeal the FACE Act so it can’t be weaponized against pro-lifers in future Democratic presidents’ administrations. Ninety-seven percent of FACE Act prosecutions between the years of 1994 and 2024 were initiated against pro-life Americans.
“[President] Joe Biden’s unjust weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-life activists and people of faith belongs in the dustbin of history,” Lee told The Daily Signal. “While President Trump is stopping these outrageous prosecutions, we should ensure that no future administration has the ability to persecute Americans through unequal application of the law.”
Calvin Zastrow
Calvin Zastrow, 64, of Kawkalin, Michigan, was released from federal prison on Jan. 23, about halfway through his six-month sentence in a low-security facility in Thomson, Illinois. He’s thankful to be back with his wife and children in Saginaw, Michigan, after receiving the presidential pardon.
Zastrow has been doing pro-life “rescues” for 30 years and has been imprisoned many times.
“I’m very thankful to the Lord to be pardoned and to get back into the fight against baby-murdering and to serve the Lord and to be with my family,” he told The Daily Signal. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”
The Illinois facility where Zastrow was incarcerated was on lockdown for six day leading up to the pardon, so he was unable to access news, phone calls, or emails. On Jan. 20, he heard the Jan. 6 Capitol protest prisoners in his unit shouting “Worthy is the Lamb” and “Goodbye” on their way out after their pardons.
When he didn’t hear anything about his own pardon, he thought, “Praise the Lord, I got three more months of prison ministry ahead of me.”
Zastrow believes it was God’s providence that he was pardoned on Jan. 23, instead of Jan. 20, because he had three days locked in his cell to disciple his cellmate.
“It was powerful time in Christ, it was wonderful, and so then, on the evening of the 23rd, my cellmate and I went to bed at 10, the guards came and banged on our door real loud and shouted my name,” he said. “That usually is a sign that you’re going to get dragged out and beat up. So, it wasn’t fun. And then they woke me up and said, ‘You’re out.'”
He gathered his belongings and was out the front door an hour later.
Zastrow used his 101 days of incarceration to share the Gospel with the men imprisoned with him, which he describes as “a great privilege.”
“I was able to minister to lot of men and encourage them, and some guys sought me out, some believers that needed some help or just strengthening, or we needed to work through some problems together and some family dynamics they were going through,” he said, “so, it was a joy for me to evangelize, to tell people about Jesus. It was a joy for me to minister to other believers in there and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Now that he’s free, Zastrow plans to continue spreading the good news of the Gospel and attempting to save babies from abortion. He also plans to lobby Congress to repeal the FACE Act, which he said is “designed to stop peaceful pro-life Christians from rescuing babies.”
“What would it be like if Thomson prison didn’t come and tell me that I was pardoned? That would be cruel. That would be selfish,” he said. “And then I thought, the Creator of the universe, the Almighty Father, the Lord God Yahweh, He has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and to pay our sin debt. And He offers that pardon to all who will believe and confess their sins and repent and put their trust and faith in Him for salvation.”
“How selfish and cruel for us to keep that from one single person in the whole world,” he said.
Though Zastrow’s time behind bars is over, he plans to return to continue discipling the men whose sentences are far from over. He recently mailed many letters to Thomson prison, and he plans to visit his former prison mates if he is allowed.
“A lot of them are doing good in the Lord,” he said, “and I want to bless and stay in touch with them.”
“Some of them have family visit them, but most of the people in prison never have any visits, so I want to change that personally,” Zastrow continued, “but I also want to spread the word and encourage other people to go visit prisoners to write to them, pray for them, become friends with them.”
Though sleeping conditions were far from comfortable, Zastrow thanks the Lord for sustaining him and keeping him from illness so he could continue sharing the Gospel.
“I thank the Lord for the privilege, the honor to serve Him under some challenging circumstances,” he said.
Paulette Harlow
Paulette Harlow, 75, of Kingston, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 24 months for charges of federal conspiracy against rights and FACE Act violation. She was granted house arrest due to her chronic health conditions.
She told The Daily Signal she and her husband are happy and grateful that Trump is president because they think he cares about every American.
“I really believe that President Trump saved my life,” Harlow said. “Because if I had ever gone to prison, I don’t think I would have made it. And I certainly would not have been able to have my back surgeries and everything that I needed to have, and have taken care of.”
She and her husband thanked Trump “from the bottom of [their] hearts.”
“We really feel like this whole arrest and everything was, it was really ridiculous. It was not necessary. We were peaceful. We were prayerful,” she said. “We were just there to help the mothers and babies.”
Harlow was not surprised to receive a pardon because Trump promised to pardon her.
“We were very, very prayerful, and we had the words of President Trump on video saying, ‘Hang in there, Paula,’ or ‘I’m gonna get you out of there,'” she said.
“I’ve seen him continually say that he’s going to do something and then do it,” Harlow said. “And so I really like that. I really like that. He’s a man of his word.”
Harlow requested permission to go to Mass while on house arrest, but the judge specifically mandated in the court record that she could not attend. The devout Catholic is thankful to be able to go back to church after being pardoned.
She said the FACE Act, the law weaponized by the Biden DOJ against her, never should have been passed in the first place.
“It was put together by the abortion industry and for the abortion industry,” she said. “The architects of this were abortionists who were concerned because the rescues of the ‘70s and ‘80s and early ‘90s were being effective, not only closing down abortion mills and saving lives, but also there were people from the abortion industry who were coming out of the industry due to this witness.”
William Goodman
William Goodman, 55, of the Bronx, New York, was in prison in Danbury, Connecticut, after being sentenced to 27 months for violating the FACE Act.
Like Zastrow, he discipled the other men in his prison and shared the Gospel through Bible studies and prayer groups.
“We saw the Lord moving, guys being delivered from the bondage of addictions with drugs. There were guys who were coming to pray who were suffering with various sorts of temptations,” Goodman said, “and the inmates who came and who joined us in prayer said that they could feel the peace of God.”
The FACE Act prisoners were often lumped together with the Jan. 6 prisoners as “political hostages,” so when the latter were pardoned on Inauguration Day, the men in prison were confused why Goodman wasn’t freed, he said.
“God provided the opportunity once again to explain that we were in for protecting babies and for helping moms and dads,” he said.
While Goodman was prepared for the worst, he had hope that his pardon from Trump was coming soon.
“Part of me thought if anybody were to understand what we’re going through, it’d be President Trump, because he’s been so attacked by the weaponized Department of Justice, the [attorneys general] offices in the states,” he said, “and so when he said that ‘you are a political hostage,’ I felt like he really meant that, and he understood.”
While in prison, Goodman sustained a serious concussion and did not receive sufficient medical care.
He was writing a letter on Jan. 23 when he received the news of his pardon, and he jumped out of his chair as quickly as his injuries allowed.
“Guys were shaking my hand, and later, when the prison staff came to get me out, 60 guys were cheering for us,” he said, “so there was real joy in the prison, and thanks be to Jesus, who sets the prisoners free!”
Goodman’s head injuries resulted from falling out of his bunkbed, which was about five-and-a-half-feet above the floor.
“I really just did a straight nosedive onto this part of my head, had several skull fractures, fractures all in this area, lacerations and abrasions. I needed stitches, had pressure on my neck, on my spine, and in the back, on my lower back, hurt my thumb,” he said. “I was banged up.”
One of the Jan. 6 prisoners heard him fall and rushed to alert the guards. Goodman was unconscious, but witnesses said they had never seen so much blood.
“All the fellows in the unit started praying,” he said. “They took me by ambulance to the hospital.”
He said he probably should’ve spent the night in the hospital, but the guards brought him back to fend for himself in a new cellblock alone. His inmates took care of him by finding him a bed, bringing him food, visiting, and praying.
“The guards didn’t check on me or the medical personnel, and I had a very serious concussion and other injuries,” he said. “And again, by God’s grace, you know, I made it through. And when I was actually able to walk out on the compound again, a number of guys from Foxtrot unit where I fell, some of the Hispanic guys [were] making the sign of the cross, like we were praying for you.”
If given the opportunity, Goodman would thank Trump for inspiring courage by pardoning the pro-lifers. He would also urge Trump to fight to end abortion.
“I would thank him for the courage that he showed in standing up to the weaponization of the government because his tenacity and his willingness to fight really gave many Americans and patriots inspiration to stand firm and not to compromise,” Goodman said.
Through his injuries and struggles in prison, Jesus was his hope.
“Jesus loves us and that love extends everywhere in the cosmos,” he said. “I got a letter from Cal, and he said he’s writing from prison, where Jesus is king. And I shared that with the other guys. And so we would say in our prayer group, ‘We’re here praying in Danbury, where Jesus is king.'”
Goodman said the pro-life “rescuers” are attempting to imitate Christ in their work of saving babies from abortion.
“Jesus is the divine rescuer,” he said. “We’re following Him to the rescue. He’s the real rescuer, and it’s a privilege to rescue with Him. It’s an honor. It’s not heroic. It’s just [Jesus’] grace helping us to be faithful.”
Heather Idoni
Heather Idoni, 60, of Linden, New Jersey, started engaging in pro-life activism in 1989. She and her husband have five sons by birth and 10 adopted children from Ukraine. She suffered a stroke behind bars and was repeatedly denied insulin, but her trust in God remained steadfast.
“Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I really don’t have the smell of smoke on me from this,” she said. “I feel like I’m a stronger person. I’m tougher in many ways.”
Idoni was charged with federal conspiracy against rights and FACE Act violations and sentenced to two years and three months in prison. She served time in nine different county jails before being pardoned.
When she found out Trump was reelected, she started to hope for an early release, but she and her husband trusted God to protect her either way.
“When he pardoned the J-6ers, that was when my adrenaline hit, and it got really exciting,” she said. “And then I had to come back around with [Trump] the next couple of days and think, ‘OK, it’s possible he’s not going to pardon us.’ And then I got settled again in my spirit,” she said. “And then when it happened, it was so unexpected and fast that all the joy just poured out at that point.”
She had three indictments for pro-life activism in Washington, D.C.; Mount Juliet, Tennessee; and Sterling Heights, Michigan, so she was moved between jails.
She said the only time she felt unsafe was traveling between jails, because a tight chain was around her waste, making it difficult to breathe.
“They put chains around your waist, and I had a medication that I was taking because of my heart catheterization that I had in jail, and that medication was causing my lungs not to function properly,” she said. “They put the chains on when you’re standing up, and when you sit down, you expand and the chains get tighter.”
Despite spending limited time in each jail, God provided Idoni with opportunities to spread the Gospel, she said.
“The very first place I went—Alexandria, Virginia—the first girl I met had gotten saved the day before through a Bible study,” she said, “so I could see that God was laying the foundation.”
“It just started me seeing that God’s going to have work prepared for me ahead of time,” she continued. “And I got to tell these girls I had prayed for them for the last year and a half or so for every girl I’d meet. And that really impacted their lives. And I really didn’t have any negative responses, even the ones who were not pro-life.”
Many women Idoni encountered had previously had abortions, and she was able to provide them counseling and healing.
“Some of them didn’t want to disclose that they felt conflicted about it and needed forgiveness and love,” she said, “but the Lord gave me words to minister to their hearts, and they became some of my biggest cheerleaders.”
A self-proclaimed atheist inmate asked Idoni to teach her to study the Bible. She now lives near Idoni in Michigan, so Idoni will be able to keep discipling her. She is working to become a chaplain at Livingston prison near her home so she can continue a prison ministry.
Idoni said she has 10 grandchildren, two of them still in the womb. One of her grandchildren was born while she was in prison.
“I’m very grateful for what [Trump] did,” she said on the pardon. “I wanted to be with my grandchildren.”
Idoni plans to do more “rescues” and to encourage sidewalk counselors at abortion clinics to keep up the good work. She also hopes to regain her passport so she can travel to Ukraine for missions work.
Though she was unable to leave the country, Idoni feels that God provided her with a Gospel-sharing opportunities for the past year-and-a-half in jails across the country.
“It was like a federally funded missions trip,” she said.
Elizabeth (Troutman) Mitchell is a reporter for The Daily Signal and co-host of "The Daily Signal Podcast."
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