US President Donald Trump has pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists, including those found guilty of blocking a fertility clinic and threatening staff and patients.
The pardon was part of a round of executive orders signed by Trump on Thursday, one of several in the first week of his presidency.
Trump described the conviction as “ridiculous”, but abortion rights campaigners said it was proof that he is against abortion.
The orders came a day before anti-abortion protesters descend on Washington DC for the annual March for Life, which the president is scheduled to address via videolink.
In 2020, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the meeting in person, although George W Bush and Ronald Reagan also spoke from a distance.
Vice President JD Vance will attend in person this time.
This gathering has been held in the US capital every year since 1974, a year after abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court in Roe v Wade.
Abortion rights have been a key issue in recent presidential races and the court overturned the decision in 2022.
Signing the amnesty, Trump said of the activists: “They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people… This is a great honor to sign this. They will be very happy.”
American media reports that one of those pardoned is Lauren Handy, leader of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU).
The group was convicted of conspiring in 2020 to raid a reproductive health clinic in Washington and block access to intimidate patients and staff. The members forced their way into the Surgi-Clinic, injured the nurse, and spent hours inside.
Handy was found guilty in August 2023 and sentenced in May 2024.
His followers applauded the amnesty saying that their conviction was political.
The president of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the protesters were targeted by Joe Biden’s Justice Department and thanked Trump for “keeping his promise” to pardon them.
But abortion rights activists said the pardons confirmed their belief that Trump was against abortion, even though he declared during his presidential campaign that it was up to each state to decide whether to allow the practice.
Ryan Stitzlein of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All told the AP: “Donald Trump on the campaign trail tried to have it both ways — bragging about his role in overturning Roe v Wade while saying he would not take action on abortion.
“We never believed that was true, and this proves we were right.”
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