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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — An elderly jailed pro-lifer and defendant in the D.C. FACE Act trials, who 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, told LifeSiteNews that she “never want(s) to endure that pain again.”

READ: Here’s when the ‘DC Nine’ jailed pro-lifers will be sentenced next week

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, non-violent pro-life rescue conducted in 2020 at a late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C.

“My [right] hip was to be operated on last October (after my orthopedic surgeon at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston evaluated my films and records showing deterioration of the hip and osteoarthritis),” Marshall told LifeSite.

“I never want to endure that pain again (seven hours of excruciating pain in the emergency room),” she insisted. “I was hospitalized once before for the pain when I was still working as a nurse but held off surgery.”

Marshall, 74, has written to Congress, begging the head of the Human Rights Commission to intervene with the pro-abortion judge who put her behind bars for a peaceful pro-life rescue to allow her an urgently needed hip surgery.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Elderly jailed pro-lifer denied urgent medical treatment for ‘excruciating’ hip pain

In a letter addressed to Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and obtained by LifeSiteNews, Marshall, who is a registered nurse, said that just a month before her trial last fall, she was admitted to the hospital “for excruciating pain in my hip and an inability to walk.” Despite a scheduled surgery and medical information from the doctor, the pro-abortion Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused any accommodations for Marshall to undergo the needed surgery.

Since then, her condition has only worsened, with her right leg feeling numb and her right knee unable to bend, forcing her to drag her right leg when she walks. With other medical complications, such as reflux, exacerbating her condition and being unable to see needed medical professionals, she told Smith, “I am concerned about my condition because I am unable to see an ENT doctor after waiting two months, and because if I did choke, there are no emergency buttons to push in my cell in which I am now locked down for 20 hours a day.”

Marshall told LifeSiteNews that she has effectively been immobilized due to the withholding of proper medical care and the pain she endures in her right leg. “Of course I avoid walking so I won’t have to take anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) due to my GERD,” she said.

She also related that just a day after her letter to Congressman Smith was published – which detailed the urgent medical care that was being withheld from her as well as the 20-hours-per-day lockdown to which she was subjected – the Alexandria Detention Center finally admitted her to an ENT doctor, as she had been requesting, and lifted the long hours of lockdown during the daytime.

“I was sent out the very next morning to Inova Healthplex Hospital – Franconia-Springfield to see an ENT specialist who, after examining me, decided that I should see a gastroenterologist,” Marshall said. “The jail physician’s assistant said that the jail would decide whether or not to send me out to be seen. We were also taken out of our imposed lockdown 20 hours out of 24 and are now only locked down at night with two hours of lock down during the day, which is the normal routine.”

READ: Elderly jailed pro-lifer begs congressman to intervene with Democrat judge for urgent medical care

Under American law, the withholding of proper medical care or proper clothing from an elderly woman legally constitutes elder abuse. The DOJ officially defines on its own website: “Elder abuse is an intentional or negligent act by any person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to an older adult.” An older adult is a person 65 years of age or older.

The withholding of urgent medical treatment, needed medication, as well as proper housing and clothing from an infirm 74-year-old woman, resulting in the contracting of a potentially life-threatening lung condition and injury to her right leg, rendering her partially lame, would all constitute elder abuse.

In addition to American domestic law, the international norms set forth in 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.”

Marshall also called out the pro-abortion judge for throwing the pro-lifers immediately behind bars upon conviction, a questionable legal move reserved for violent and dangerous criminals, which surprised both the defense and even the prosecution.

“I do not understand why we couldn’t have gone home until we were sentenced in May, as we were not violent,” Marshall said.

Please pray for the “D.C. Nine” pro-lifers who will be sentenced by pro-abortion Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly next week in the nation’s capital.

LifeSiteNews’ extensive coverage of the D.C. FACE Act trials can be found here.

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