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Joyce Fecteau Trial
Resumes Friday, April 26, 8:30 A.M.
Municipal Building, Courtroom B
Wheeler Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama

Prayer Vigil at 8:00 A.M. on the
Sidewalk Adjacent to Municipal Building

Catholic Woman Arrested for Spraying Holy Water
Awaits Trial in Huntsville

By: Kelly Manley
April 5, 2013


Huntsville—In addition to raising seven children of her own, 70-year-old Joyce Fecteau has spent most of her adult life reaching out to pregnant women in need by helping them get resources and providing emotional support. Over the years, Joyce has helped to save hundreds of women and children from abortion on the sidewalk outside abortion clinics, and many women have returned years later to thank her for her efforts.

But on January 9, Joyce’s ministry was interrupted when Huntsville police arrested her outside the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives, 612 Madison Street, following a harassment complaint from a protestor who claims that Joyce sprayed her with an “unknown liquid” in December. The police officers then handcuffed Joyce and escorted her to the Huntsville police department, but later released her after they were unable to produce a warrant. After finding the warrant, Joyce returned to the Huntsville police department the next day where she was booked, a three-hour process, and then released on bond. She pleaded “not guilty” to the harassment charge and is awaiting her trial.

Joyce says she sprayed holy water into the air to dissipate hazardous smoke that was being produced by a smudge stick held by one of the protestors. Since then, another protestor has filed a similar complaint, and Joyce now faces two charges of harassment. Joyce says she is highly allergic to smoke and has been advised by her physician to avoid inhaling smoke. Pro-lifers say the smoke produced by the protestors is significantly more offensive than smoke from a cigarette or cigar. Some cities in America already have laws which prohibit smoking and smoke-producing devices within a specified distance of public places such as restaurants and medical facilities.

According to pro-lifers, the protestors began to gather at the abortion clinic a few months before the November elections and have interfered with their efforts to help women entering the facility by blocking their access to pro-life counselors and not allowing them to receive pro-life literature. The protestors frequently use profanity, carry smudge sticks producing toxic smoke, and often demonstrate barbaric behavior according to pro-lifers. The environment at the sidewalk was a loving and peaceful one before the protestors showed up according to pro-lifers. This is supported by the fact that there have been no previous complaints against the pro-life counseling team who have maintained a good relationship with the police officers hired by the abortion clinic for several years.

Like Joyce, many Catholics today face great challenges and persecution. A federal judge recently dismissed EWTN’s lawsuit against the HHS government mandate which requires the television network to provide health insurance for its employees which pays for contraception, voluntary sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs…all of which contradict the teachings of the Church. But Pope Francis, a strong advocate for the unborn, pointed out in a powerful statement he released in 2005 as bishop of Buenos Aires, “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you. No child should be deprived of the right to be born, the right to be fed, the right to go to school.”

While waiting for her trial, Joyce continues to attempt to reach out to women through love and compassion outside the abortion clinic. She is a true and living example of the pro-life message, “To save just one human life…is worth a lifetime of effort.” Huntsville pro-life advocates are encouraging all Catholics to stand with and support Joyce at her trial on April 18 at 8:30 A.M., at the Huntsville Municipal Building, and to pray that justice be served in her case.