Another pro-life advocate who was prosecuted by the Biden Department of Justice for his pro-life beliefs has won a financial settlement with the federal government.
Paul Vaughn, a father of 11, was targeted in a predawn FBI raid on his family’s home, complete with agents pointing their guns at him, much like the similar case of pro-life demonstrator Mark Houck. The Thomas More Society reports the incident was “terrifying” for his family, including his children, saying the show of force “was grossly disproportionate to his alleged crime.”
* Pro-Lifer Mark Houck, Who Was Arrested at Home in Terrifying Raid, Wins 7-Figure Settlement Against DOJ
Vaughn then faced federal prosecution. His crime? Praying, singing hymns, and peacefully protesting at an abortion facility in Tennessee. He received six months of house arrest following that harrowing confrontation with law enforcement.
He told CBN News in 2024, “There was no knowingly breaking any laws. As a matter of fact, I have a two-year-old that was due that week of the event, and I knowingly and intentionally avoided breaking any laws at the risk of not being at her birth.”
CBN’s Faith In Action gives you a way to make your voice heard! Stand. Sign. Pray. Sign the petition to permanently end tax-funded abortion.
Steve Crampton, Thomas More Society senior counsel and attorney for Paul Vaughn, also explained, “Unfortunately, the Biden Department of Justice decided to characterize Paul Vaughn’s peaceful actions as a felony ‘conspiracy against rights,’ to intimidate and punish Paul and other pro-life people and people of faith.”
Vaughn was among a wave of Americans singled out and prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act by the Biden Administration. Crampton described it as a “disturbing” pattern of “arresting and prosecuting peaceful pro-life advocates.”
Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Trump pardoned Vaughn and 23 additional pro-life men and women who had been convicted on FACE charges.
***Sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you receive the latest updates from a Christian perspective.***
Now the financial settlement affirms that the Biden DOJ’s actions were an abuse of government power.
“This settlement is not just about one family,” Crampton said. “It is a warning and a precedent. The weaponization of federal law enforcement against pro-lifers, against people of faith, against those who dare to stand for the unborn—that era is over.”
