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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — An elderly jailed pro-lifer and defendant in the D.C. FACE Act trials has been denied urgent medical treatment for eight months despite “excruciating” hip pain and two ER visits before going to trial in federal court last fall.
LifeSiteNews has become aware that Jean Marshall, 74, has been in need of hip surgery since before her unexpected immediate incarceration after conviction in federal court last September. Marshall was imprisoned along with seven other pro-lifers on charges of violating the pro-abortion FACE Act in a traditional pro-life rescue conducted in 2020 at a late-term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C.
WATCH: BREAKING | Biden DOJ Accused of Brutal Treatment of Jailed Pro-Lifer — Prolonged Solitary, Shackles
Marshall’s sister, who is registered nurse and who asked to not be named, told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview that, before the trial last fall, twice Marshall “was in just absolutely excruciating pain” and had to be admitted by ambulance to the hospital “for hip pain.” Doctors decided hip surgery was needed and set a date.
Before the trial in federal court, Marshall’s lawyer presented the medical diagnosis of her doctor, requesting that the trial be postponed and due allowance be afforded her for the medical attention she urgently needed.
LifeSiteNews was told that the surgery had been scheduled for the weekend of the trial and had to be canceled due to the refusal of the judge to move the trial date. Eight months later and the pro-abortion judge has still denied any accommodation or allowance for the urgent surgery in a move that could arguably qualify as elder abuse, contrary to U.S and international law regarding proper treatment of the elderly and prisoners with medical needs.
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Jailed pro-lifer paraded into courtroom fully shackled ahead of Michigan FACE Act trial
In another incident of medical maltreatment during incarceration, Marshall suffered from pneumonia last fall due to the severe prison conditions and was initially denied medical attention for several weeks until the matter was insisted upon to prison personnel.
Marshall’s sister explained to LifeSiteNews that the elderly woman already suffered from weak lungs, and with insufficient heating or blankets in her prison cell, she became seriously ill from the freezing winter weather. The nurse said she was “very concerned” about her sister’s health.
“They kept putting them on lockdown,” she said. “And when they put them on lockdown, they would go into their cell, and in the cell there has no heat, and there’s only one cinder block between them and the outside weather. So, it’s very cold, it was very cold.”
“She was very sick and very freezing to death.”
“And that’s very dangerous in an elderly person because they can die from pneumonia. It’s the leading cause of death in the elderly: pneumonia,” she warned.
The withholding of needed medical care for an elderly woman in prison runs contrary not only to basic human rights ethics but also the international standards set forth in the Nelson Mandela Rules.
The U.N. document on international rules for the humane treatment of prisoners, titled United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), state that every prisoner must receive needed medical care and that medical decisions made by a doctor “may not be overruled or ignored by non-medical prison staff.”
Jean Marshall shared with LifeSiteNews a letter in which she testified, “We went to the abortion killing place in peaceful response to Proverbs 24:11, to ‘rescue those being dragged to their death.’ We went as if the life of the Preborn Christ Child was at stake because our Lord said, ‘Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for Me’ (Matthew 25:40).
In a letter to her fellow Third Order Franciscans, Marshall explained her special love for the unborn, declaring, “As Catholics we know that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is the Son of God and the Word of God and that the Word was made flesh when He became the preborn Christ Child in Mary’s tabernacle womb.”
READ: Pro-life prisoner took part in DC rescue ‘as if the life of the Preborn Christ Child was at stake’
The interview with Jean Marshall’s sister, a registered nurse, follows:
LifeSiteNews: Your sister Jean has been in need of hip surgery from well before her sentencing last fall. And she has been denied permission to undergo that surgery.
Marshall’s sister: Yes, right. She had to cancel the surgery.
LSN: Could you go through the details of her whole situation?
MS: Twice my sister was in just absolutely excruciating pain, crying, moaning, groaning, crying out. And she had to go by ambulance and was admitted to the hospital for hip pain. And the doctor said, “You’re eventually going to have to have surgery for this.” So, they said, rather than have another episode like this happen, you should just have the surgery, because you’re going to have that pain again.
So they scheduled her to have her surgery. And, meanwhile, they had delayed the dates as far as when we’re going in and when we’re going to have the trial, and things kept getting pushed back.
So, when she went to trial, she was supposed to have surgery that weekend, and they just said, too bad. Rather than have her go on house arrest so she could get the surgery and recover from it and then put her in prison, they just sent her right to the prison.
Well, she has asthma. And she’s been healed from TB, but her lungs aren’t in the best shape. When she went there, it was so cold there, no heat, and they were so freezing there. She thought it was just like a bad cold, or the bronchitis, or whatever, but it turned out she had pneumonia. And so finally they got some medication to her, but it was a long time that she was sick.
And that’s very dangerous in an elderly person because they can die from pneumonia. It’s the leading cause of death in the elderly: pneumonia.
LSN: How long did she go before they gave her any kind of accommodations or treatment with her pneumonia?
MS: It was weeks, yeah.
LSN: And it was because it was too cold in the prison?
MS: It was freezing. They kept putting them on lockdown. And when they put them on lockdown, they would go into their cell, and in the cell there was no heat, and there’s only one cinder block between them and the outside weather. So, it’s very cold, it was very cold. And in October, November, in Washington it’s cold.
LSN: Has she been given any better treatment in January or February, when we actually got some snow?
MS: She had to buy two pair of long johns from the Commissary, and they did give a blanket, another blanket. She said that heat came on eventually, but she was very sick and very freezing to death.
LSN: With regard to her hip surgery, as I understand, her lawyer sent the letter from her doctor to the judge and the judge has completely ignored and denied any accommodations for that. Is that correct? There’s no arrangement for any planned surgery, as in, it’s just dead in the water right now?
MS: No, as soon as she gets out, she will. They’ll schedule it again right away. She needs the surgery. But she can’t schedule it while she’s in jail. They won’t let her do it, they won’t let her. But they did have a letter from her doctor stating that she needed the surgery. She had the appointment. They had the whole thing, they had all of her information.
LSN: Has Jean mentioned whether she is in much pain now or over the last few months?
MS: She’s in pain. But she’s trying not to say anything, because she doesn’t want me to get upset, because I have so many things going on and I’m not supposed to have any stress. So, I have to do everything I can to stop stress. I can’t watch the news anymore. I can’t do any of those things. And so, she just didn’t want me to be stressed. “I don’t want to tell you everything,” she said. “But,” she said, “you can’t come in here, you won’t survive.” And I say, “Well, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the court.” And we’ll see what happens. There’s nothing I can do.
Sentencing for the D.C. Nine Pro-lifers will take place on May 14, 15, and 17.
Sign the prayer pledge for the nine pro-life rescuers facing a decade in prison.
LifeSiteNews’ extensive coverage of the D.C. Face Act trials can be found here.
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