Marjorie Reed, 50, is a Toledo housewife. She has a husband, Robert, who sells cars and a son, Jamie, 16, who is in high school. In a quieter, saner time she would grow old gracefully, caring for her home, her family attending to her needs.

But in 1992, in America, the times are not quiet or sane.

For her commitment to saving the lives of unborn children, Marjorie Reed, the decent housewife, faces a decade behind bars.

Notable place

Mrs. Reed holds a notable place among Ohio’s pro-life activists, Rex Carpenter told The Interim. She is legal counsel for Christians United Against Abortion, a Toledo-based interdenominational group involved in picketing of abortuaries and counseling abortion-minded women.

Since she joined the local Right to Life organization in 1975, Marjorie’s pro-life career has included sidewalk counseling, one-woman rescues, and blitzes of Toledo abortuaries with pro-life literature, Ms. Carpenter reported.

Unmarked cars

In October 1988, two unmarked cars, each with a federal agent at the wheel, waited outside Marjorie Reed’s home on the east side of Toledo. They had a warrant for her arrest on a charge of alleged arson at the Toledo Medical Services abortion “clinic.”

She emerged from the house and got into her car, and when she pulled out of the driveway, both cars attempted to block her way front and back.

The federal cars had no identification and were not equipped with sirens or emergency lights. The agents, Stephen Franks and Calby Marlett, were dressed in civilian clothes.

Unthinking, Mrs. Reed put her car into reverse and collided with the car behind. However, damage to the vehicle was minor, no more than $100, and no one suffered any injuries.

Municipal court

Nevertheless, Mrs. Reed was arraigned in municipal court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon (her car), driving with a suspended license (lapsed because of another sojourn in jail for pro-life rescuing), and illegal backing (she didn’t look twice before setting her car in reverse).

Municipal court judge Ronald Bowman acquitted her of the first two charges, but found her guilty of the third, fining her &70. At the same time, however, he reprimanded the two federal agents for watching and besetting Mrs. Reed, stating that had he the authority, he would order the government to make restitution to her for damages.

The federal government promptly re-charged her.

In his federal courtroom, on the strength of federal agent Stephen Franks’ testimony, “I was afraid for my safety,” Judge Nicholas J. Walinski found her guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Judge Walinski then inflicted on her bail conditions which amounted to nothing less than house arrest with her husband as her jailer.

She could not leave the house except under his supervision; she was barred from any active part in the pro-life movement and she was to have no contact with pro-lifers. If she breached any of these conditions, the court was empowered to arrest her husband and to place her son under the wardship of the state.

Faced with this prospect, Marjorie Reed took the drastic step of skipping bond. Apprehended in New Jersey, she was brought back before Judge Nicholas Walkinski who, prepared to make an example of her, had her thrown into jail without hope of parole.

Today, Marjorie Reed languishes in the Union Country Jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and a decade of unjust captivity stretching before her. Throughout the nation she loves, countless good people like herself labor tirelessly for an end to injustice against the unborn.

Will anyone speak for her?