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Staunch South Carolina pro-life activist Steve Lefemine was sentenced to sixty days imprisonment – and fined $1,000 – by a federal judge this week for blocking access to an abortion clinic in Columbia, S.C. two years ago.
Lefemine, 68, of West Columbia, S.C. was found guilty earlier this year of blocking access to the Columbia, S.C. office of abortion provider Planned Parenthood in violation of the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinics (FACE) Act.
On November 15, 2022, Lefemine sat in front of the entrance to this facility and attempted to block access to it. In fact, he admitted as much during his one-day trial – at which he served as his own counsel.
“Testimony from the trial indicated that Lefemine was a frequent protester of the clinic and, on this occasion, physically sought to bar employees and patients from entering the facility,” according to a release from the office of U.S. attorney Adair Ford Boroughs. “Lefemine recorded his activities and presented the audio/video recordings during the trial.”
Lefemine’s conviction was the first secured under the FACE Act in South Carolina.

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“We will protect South Carolinians’ right to peacefully protest, but we will also protect their right to access healthcare facilities,” Boroughs said in announcing Lefemine’s conviction back in March. “Lefemine’s protest became unlawful when he physically prevented patients from entering Planned Parenthood.”
During sentencing, senior U.S. district court judge Joseph F. Anderson – a Reagan appointee – noted that Lefemine had multiple prior convictions for similar behavior. Anderson could have sentenced Lefemine to six months in prison and fined him $10,000.
Lefemine’s case was investigated by the Columbia, S.C. police department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s Columbia, S.C. field office. It was prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorney T. DeWayne Pearson.
Abortion has remained a contentious issue in South Carolina – and at the national level – in the aftermath of the repeal of Roe v. Wade two years ago. The Palmetto State has imposed new restrictions on abortion in the aftermath of Roe’s repeal – and booted several Republican senators who opposed them – but the new law obviously does not go far enough for activists like Lefemine.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
I’m pro-life but this guy is a nutjob who need to be institutionalized. He’s worse than the old guy with the baby stroller.
Good. Let him get his a$$ kicked around the federal pen for a couple of months. Maybe it will knock some common sense into him.