After a vigorous defense backed by Life Legal, charges have been dropped against a pro-life grandmother in Texas. Her attempt to intervene for the life of her grandchild will not be criminalized.
We first told you about this case in April of last year. Here’s a recap:
Jonathon and his girlfriend Sunny were expecting a baby – a fact that Jonathon communicated to his mother, Briana. Then Jonathon and Sunny separated, and Sunny told Briana that she would not be having the baby.
Briana repeatedly pleaded with Sunny not to abort the child – and offered unlimited aid. She even pledged to help Jonathon raise the child in Sunny’s absence if that option were preferable. The pregnancy was far enough along that the sex of the baby was now known. He was a boy. Briana and Jonathon gave him the name Levi.
(Note: for legal and ethical reasons, almost all the names in this account have been changed. But Levi is the actual name assigned to the baby.)
The Heartbeat Law in effect throughout the Great State of Texas gave Briana and Jonathon hope, but ultimately Briana’s appeals on behalf of Levi did not succeed. Sunny went to a neighboring state, and Levi’s life was terminated. A dismal enough conclusion – if it had really been the conclusion.
But it wasn’t. Almost a year after Levi’s anticipated birthdate, Briana was informed of a complaint against her for criminal harassment. Sunny wanted to punish her for intervening on behalf of her grandchild.
That’s when Briana contacted Life Legal. We came to her defense.
Now, at last, the case is resolved. All charges have been dropped. The case never went to trial. In the face of defense arguments, prosecutors realized, a little late, that the complaint was without merit.
Many of the cases that Life Legal faces fit into familiar categories. Abortion mill employees harass pro-life activists. A municipality restricts pro-life speech. A pro-life employee’s conscience rights are negated. A school campus excludes the pro-life point of view.
This case was different. It hasn’t been common for an aborting mother to wage vengeful lawfare, after the fact, against relatives. I can’t think of another Life Legal case like it.
Why are such cases arising now, after more than half a century of widespread abortion in America?
I submit that Sunny’s complaint may have been a personal manifestation of the pro-abort backlash against Dobbs. When Roe v. Wade enabled a nice, quiet little right to child murder, abortion enthusiasts made a lot less noise. When Roe fell, that changed. Pro-aborts in politics and mass media howled to the crimson sky that killing babies was a “fundamental right.” They convinced women like Sunny that they were suffering some sort of injury whenever anyone pleaded for the life of an infant.
Whatever was going on in Sunny’s head, we have victory in this case. We mourn the unjust death of Levi, but we also recognize that his father and grandmother rendered him a real benefit when they spoke up for him in love. No child should die in the faux-comfy darkness of an abortion mill without a word being said. Objections should be raised to Heaven.
And no grandmother should be punished for raising them.
If I’m right about causes, we may be seeing more cases like this in the future. We couldn’t have won this one, and we won’t be able to win future ones, without the help of supporters like you.
- Please pray for Briana and Jonathon, who are still mourning the loss of Levi!
- Pray also for Sunny, that her mind may be set right and that she may find healing from what, despite denials, is always a traumatic experience!
- Pray for families that may be facing such trials in the near future – and for all babies menaced by the bogus “liberty” of legalized abortion!
- Pray for all Life Legal’s work on behalf of innocent human life!