A Washington D.C. district court judge suggested a 75-year-old pro-life activist “make every effort to stay alive” as part of the “tenets of your religion” while sentencing her to prison.
On May 31, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Paulette “Paula” Harlow to two years in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) with a pro-life demonstration at an abortion clinic in 2020.
Although Harlow’s husband, John, and attorney emphasized that her rapidly declining health could put her life in jeopardy in pleading for leniency, court transcripts obtained by Fox News Digital showed the judge giving Harlow a suggestion based on Harlow’s religion.
“I would suggest that, in terms of your religion, that one of the tenets is that you should make the effort during this period of time, when it may be difficult in terms of for your husband, to make every effort to remain alive, to do the things that you need to do to survive, because that’s part of the tenets of your religion,” Kollar-Kotelly said.
The judge’s comments followed John Harlow making a plea for mercy as the primary caregiver of his wife.
“I feel like Paulette is dying,” he said. “In my heart, I think she’s having a hard time staying alive.”
Defense attorney Allen Orenberg similarly argued that interrupting Harlow’s current care could worsen her condition.
“She cannot continue to exist without support, especially that of her husband,” Orenberg said.
Orenberg added that John told him before the sentencing, “Well, if Paulette goes to prison, I want to go with her. I want to be there for her. She’s going to need me. She can’t continue to live without me.”
Plans for Harlow to be sentenced to a federal prison are still underway.
Currently, Harlow is being kept on house arrest as authorities determine a federal facility to provide her proper medical care. She is also prohibited from coming within 1,000 feet of an abortion clinic.
Though some objected to Kollar-Kotelly’s statements, Harlow appeared to assume good intentions from the judge.
“It was just her expression. Just saying try to stay alive. ‘That’s also a tenet of your faith,’ which, yeah, it is a tenant of my faith. But also, saving children is a tenet of my faith. I think it wasn’t anything that I would say, but I – at the time, I was pondering and am still pondering [the sentence],” Harlow told Fox News Digital.
Last month, Kollar-Kotelly sentenced multiple pro-life activists to years-long sentences for blocking access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic on Oct. 22, 2020.
“Previously, Lauren Handy was sentenced to 57 months in prison, John Hinshaw was sentenced to 21 months in prison, William Goodman was sentenced to 27 months in prison, Jonathan Darnel was sentenced to 34 months in prison, Herb Geraghty was sentenced to 27 months in prison, Jean Marshall was sentenced to 24 months in prison, Joan Bell was sentenced to 27 months in prison and Heather Idoni was sentenced to 24 months in prison,” the DOJ Office of Public Affairs reported.
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