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The Department of Justice, now under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, has issued a new directive that will limit the enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act that has been used to target peaceful pro-life demonstrations.
The directive, issued by Chad Mizelle, chief of staff for the attorney general, and addressed to Kathleen Wolfe, Supervisory Official of the Civil Rights Division, addresses past abuses of this Act by the government and outlines how these cases will be handled going forward.
“President Trump campaigned on the promise of ending the weaponization of the federal government and has recently directed all federal departments and agencies to identify and correct the past weaponization of law enforcement,” the directive states.
“To many Americans, prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (“FACE Act”) have been the prototypical example of this weaponization. And for good reason. Even though more than 100 crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches were attacked in the immediate aftermath of the Dobbs decision, nearly all prosecutions under the FACE Act have been against pro-life protesters. That is not the even-handed administration of justice.”
The FACE Act was established in 1994 under President Bill Clinton and was intended to prohibit “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” However, the past four years, the law’s language has been applied in ways that have allowed it to be used against pro-lifer protestors who are praying in front of abortion clinics.
The new directive is intended to put a stop to this abuse and ensure that federal enforcement and prosecutorial resources are devoted to the most serious violations of federal law as the Act originally intended.
“Future abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions will be permitted only in extraordinary circumstances, or in cases presenting significant aggravating factors, such as death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage. Cases not presenting significant aggravating factors can adequately be addressed under state or local law.”
The directive goes on to state, until further notice, that no new abortion-related FACE Act actions, either criminal or civil, will be permitted without authorization from the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
The directive also dismisses three pending FACE Act cases aimed at pro-lifers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph. D., Director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, responded to news that the lawsuit against her organization’s Red Rose Rescues, was dropped.
“We are incredibly grateful, especially grateful to God, that this pathetic lawsuit is gone! It never should have been brought in the first place! Indeed, Red Rose Rescues do not violate the FACE act, as Red Rose Rescuers do not physically block or interfere with anyone’s freedom of movement…But, under the Garland/Biden DOJ, federal prosecutors were simply bending, twisting and broadening the language of the FACE act to make what we did fit their perverted interpretation,” Miller said.
She called the dismissal of this FACE case “the total icing on the cake” after President Trump pardoned 23 pro-life protestors who were sent to prison after being convicted of violating the FACE Act.
Some of the persons released from prison included the elderly and a young mother.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America’s Marjorie Dannenfelser told the Catholic News Agency (CNA): “There is no question these prosecutions were political. President Trump has consistently taken a strong stance that weaponizing the government to go after pro-life advocates and other ideological opponents is wrong,” Dannenfelser said in a statement shared with CNA.
“Even ex-FBI Director Chris Wray admits the overwhelming majority of abortion-related threats and violence since Dobbs is directed at pro-life Americans — not done by them.”
Although there is still much work to be done to eradicate the practice of abortion, advocates for life across the nation are applauding the beginning of what appears to be a whole new era of respect for the dignity of life in America!
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