Paula Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old from Kingston, Massachusetts, was handed a two-year prison sentence today for her involvement in a conspiracy that disrupted a Washington, D.C. reproductive health clinic. Harlow, along with nine other participants, was convicted of civil rights conspiracy and offenses under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, according to the Department of Justice.

Harlow is the last defendant in a case that saw eight co-conspirators sentenced earlier in May by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, as reported by the Justice Department. Jay Smith, 34, of Freeport, New York, was the only one among them to plead guilty, receiving a 10-month sentence and three years of supervised release in March 2023.

The group was found to have intentionally blocked access to a clinic on October 22, 2020, with the primary aim of obstructing reproductive health services being provided and sought after. They used physical force to ensure the blockade was successful—involving tactics such as chaining doors and live-streaming their protest on Facebook.

The mastermind of the blockade, Lauren Handy, along with others including Jonathan Darnel, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Jean Marshall, Joan Bell, Herb Geraghty, Heather Idoni, and a Harlow, were implicated in the disruption. Their actions, as it emerged from evidence presented at trial, included using their bodies, furniture, chains, and ropes to obstruct the clinic's operations and intimidate clinic staff and patients. This orchestrated effort to prevent the provision and reception of lawful medical services clearly infringed upon the FACE Act's stipulations.