On Tuesday, September 19, Representative Chip Roy of Texas introduced a bill to repeal the FACE Act, which was recently used to prosecute and jail eight peaceful pro-life protesters who engaged in a rescue action in Washington, D.C., in October of 2020.
The bill is co-sponsored by 24 members of Congress, including Chris Smith of New Jersey, Bob Good of Virginia, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Jim Banks of Indiana, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Doug Lamborn of Colorado.
Enacted in 1994 during the Clinton administration, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, was designed to protect facilities that provide reproductive health services – including both abortion facilities and pro-life pregnancy centers – as well as houses of worship from interference or obstruction.
However, the act has primarily been used to prosecute pro-lifers.
In 2022 alone, at least 26 individuals were charged by the Department of Justice with FACE Act violations, according to the Daily Signal. By comparison, only four people have been charged with violations against pro-life organizations since the leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade, even though at least 88 pregnancy centers and pro-life organizations have been targeted with violence by pro-abortion activists since that time.
READ: Leaked DOJ email indicates department downplayed pro-abortion violence
Rep. Roy told the Daily Signal that “Biden’s Department of Justice has brazenly weaponized the FACE Act against normal, everyday Americans across the political spectrum, simply because they are pro-life,” adding, “Our Constitution separates power between the federal government and the states for a reason, and we ignore that safeguard at our own peril. The FACE Act is an unconstitutional federal takeover of state police powers; it must be repealed.”
Andrew Bath, general counsel for the Thomas More Society, which represented one of the activists recently convicted in Washington, D.C., said: “The FACE Act has been weaponized by this administration. Even if enforced honestly, the FACE Act is unconstitutional. If our constitutional system of separation of powers and the ideal of citizen self-government are to be preserved, the FACE Act must be repealed.”
Similarly, Tom McClusky, director of government affairs at CatholicVote, said: “The Biden administration has taken weaponization of government to a new level — his weapon of choice against pro-lifers has been the FACE Act … Rep. Roy and Sen. Lee are right to take this weapon away from Joe Biden and restore the First Amendment right to peacefully protest.”
