3 pro-life policies implemented in first week of Trump's second term
3. Vowing to scale back enforcement of the FACE Act
In a memo published Friday, the chief of staff to the U.S. attorney general identified “prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act” as “the prototypical example” of “the weaponization of the federal government” that Trump promised to end if elected.
Enacted in 1993, the FACE Act subjects anyone who “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere” with the provision of reproductive health services to federal charges.
The Justice Department memo highlighted the concerns of pro-life activists that following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision that determined the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion, “nearly all the prosecutions under the FACE Act have been against pro-life protesters” despite the fact that pro-abortion protesters have targeted pro-life pregnancy centers with arson and vandalism in the past three years.
Stating that the lopsided prosecutions under the law do not reflect “the even-handed administration of justice,” the DOJ indicated that under Trump administration policy, “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.”
The memo insisted that “Cases not presenting significant aggravating factors can adequately be addressed under state or local law,” suggesting that the DOJ would not prosecute nonviolent FACE Act violations.
The memo also declared that “until further notice, no new abortion-related FACE Act actions — criminal or civil — will be permitted without authorization from the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.” The announcement concluded by urging the Civil Rights Division to dismiss FACE Act charges against nearly two dozen pro-life activists. News of Trump’s pardoning of the pro-life activists broke Thursday, one day before the memo’s publication.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
