Forthcoming DOJ report accuses Biden admin of 'weaponizing' law to throw pro-lifers in jail

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Monday, April 13, 2026

Pro-life activists say a forthcoming U.S. Department of Justice report will expose what they describe as the Biden administration’s “weaponization” of a federal law to target abortion clinic protesters aggressively.

The DOJ is slated to release a report concluding that the Biden administration “shattered the public’s trust by weaponizing the [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994] to advance a pro-abortion agenda” and target pro-life activists with “traditional Christian views,” MS NOW reported Wednesday.

The FACE Act subjects anyone who “intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person” aiding or performing abortions to federal charges.

Two pro-life activists who were invited by the DOJ to review the report ahead of its publication, Terrisa Bukovinac and Randall Terry, confirmed the existence of the report in an interview with The Christian Post.

Bukovinac is the founder of the pro-life advocacy group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, while Terry is the founder of Operation Rescue.

“In February, they contacted Terrisa and said ‘Hey, we’re going to do a report, we’re also going to issue apologies and we’d like to invite you in to see the unredacted material,’” recalled Terry, referring to the DOJ. 

Bukovinac, three other pro-life activists and their attorney traveled to the DOJ on March 4, where they met with four attorneys and reviewed the contents of the report.

The federal attorneys told the activists, “You can’t take pictures,” and stressed that “we want the details embargoed until we release the report.” But the situation changed following the publication of the MS NOW story.

Bukovinac and Terry informed the DOJ that they intended to “get ahead of it and start doing interviews because MS NOW is trying to blackball the report.” They did not receive a response from the DOJ.

Bukovinac described the report as “page after page of photographs and social media posts made by myself, other PAAU activists and various other pro-life groups like Operation Save America.”

“These photographs and social media posts are sent from abortion industry entities, mostly the National Abortion Federation, directly to DOJ staff like lead prosecutor Sanjay Patel,” she stated. "And you can tell they’re just collecting a mountain of personal evidence of all of the activists.”

“One of the things that was really creepy was that … Sanjay Patel had become such an integral part of the abortion industry that on two separate occasions, he was asked to help raise money for them — once to speak at one of their events and once to help with a grant. And he was like ‘Oh yeah, I’ll do it, I’d be happy to, I’m proud, I’m honored, I’d be honored,’” Terry added.

Patel also “sought ways to lengthen the prison time” of pro-life activists facing charges under the FACE Act by “not just charging them under FACE but charging them for a conspiracy to interfere with constitutional rights, which is a really vague, weird law that could be used in any number of situations,” Terry said. He maintained that Patel “pushed for it because he knew he could get multi-year sentences out of it.”

“And the judge bought it, even though the Supreme Court has obviously ruled in the Dobbs case that there is no constitutional right to an abortion,” Terry said, adding that the charges came after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. “We haven’t been denying anyone’s constitutional rights because there is no right to kill your baby.”

The Dobbs decision did not deter Patel from pursuing such charges, Terry said.

“He was so committed to killing children that he created this new theory and the DOJ went with it and then he found judges that would go for it,” he asserted. 

Bukovinac said Patel attempted to “frame this as a religious issue,” recalling how he “really tried to highlight for the jury how religious some of the defendants were [religious], but Herb Geraghty was not allowed to speak about his atheism because Patel claimed that it would bias the jury against him.” She also criticized his treatment of Sister Deirdre Byrne, a Catholic nun with outspoken pro-life beliefs.

“Sister Dede Byrne was there with me one day, and she was praying the rosary out in the hallway, and he tried to have her held in contempt of court,” Bukovinac recalled. 

“Sanjay Patel is not a good man,” she stated. “He is someone who has ripped apart pro-life families and he has done so essentially to hide the crimes of the abortion industry.” Terry claimed Patel played a part in the early morning FBI raid on the home of pro-life activist Mark Houck, a father of seven.

MS NOW reported that Patel was placed on administrative leave last month, citing unnamed sources. Bukovinac told CP they had been “in pretty constant contact with [the MS NOW reporters] since our meeting with the DOJ.”

Terry said they spent “multiple hours” with the reporters and expressed disappointment that none of their quotes were included, but statements praising Patel were featured. Terry called the piece “a disgrace to journalism.”

“What MS NOW is trying to do is discredit the report before it even comes out,” Terry said. “That’s what … their story was about.”

The MS NOW article suggested the DOJ report could be released as early as this week and Bukovinac and Terry said they do not know when it will be released. Terry predicted that officials may review it again, adding, “We don’t know if they’re going to want to take something out” or “add something more.”

While Bukovinac praised the Trump administration for compiling the report, she expressed concern about its use of the FACE Act to prosecute former CNN personality Don Lemon for disrupting a Minnesota church service while protesting ICE raids. Although the FACE Act has primarily been used in abortion clinic cases, it also prohibits the disruption of church services. Terry agreed, saying he told the DOJ, “We don’t want Don Lemon prosecuted under this.”

“Minnesota already has laws against trespass, disorderly conduct and disrupting a religious service,” he said. “So you don’t need a federal law to bring the full weight and power … of the federal government on people who practice civil disobedience.”

Terry argued that the FACE Act is unnecessary because “everything that is in the bill can be addressed at the state level,” reiterating points he has made previously about the need to repeal the FACE Act.