7 convicted of blocking access to abortion clinic in suburban Detroit

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. -- Seven anti-abortion activists have been convicted of crimes related to blocking a clinic in suburban Detroit in 2020.

“These defendants are entitled to their views, but they are not entitled to prevent others from exercising the rights secured to them by the laws of the United States,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.

The seven sat or stood in front of the entrance to a clinic in Sterling Heights so that patients and employees could not enter, the government said.

They interfered with a couple seeking to keep an appointment to end a pregnancy after learning that a 14-week-old fetus would not survive, the government said.

After a trial in federal court, the seven were found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy against rights and a second charge related to blocking clinic access. Two of the seven were also convicted of a separate access charge at a clinic in Saginaw.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman said he would consider in the months ahead a request to dismiss the conspiracy charge. Defense lawyers said it's based on a 1870 federal law intended to stop the Ku Klux Klan from violating the rights of Blacks.

“The Department of Justice’s novel strategy to inflict maximize pain upon peaceful pro-lifers by adding a charge ... cannot be squared with the law and we stand ready to make that case,” attorney Steve Crampton said.