During the Biden Administration’s reign of terror against pro-life activists, the Department of Justice used the FACE Act to target peaceful pro-life advocates who were urging women to reconsider their decisions regarding abortion.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was enacted in 1994 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It was designed to protect access to abortion clinics.
However, the pro-life community became concerned at the abusive exercise of power by the DOJ, as Biden administration officials seemed intent on persecuting pro-life activists as they express their religious beliefs and free speech rights under the First Amendment.
Petition President Trump to pardon these pro-lifers
One such person was Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old pro-life advocate who has extensive medical issues. Paulette was prosecuted under the FACE Act for simply sitting in the waiting area of an abortion clinic in 2020 and was sentenced to two years in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release.
Because of her medical problems, Paulette’s husband petitioned Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for leniency in sentencing. Stunningly, the judge rejected the husband’s petition, and in callous fashion advised the woman to follow “the tenets of your [Christian] religion” and just “make every effort to remain alive.”
This is a demonstration of a clear hostility to Christianity and especially pro-lifers who try to convince women to keep their babies alive rather than abort them.
This comes on the heels of other examples of the DOJ’s abuse of power toward the pro-life community.
In separate incidents in 2022, FBI agents conducted early-morning raids on the homes of Mark Houck in Pennsylvania and Paul Vaughn in Tennessee. Both men were charged under the FACE Act for relatively minor incidents.
In Mark’s case, a jury declared him not guilty. Vaughn, however, was convicted and sentenced to six months’ home detention and three years of supervised release.
The Biden Administration pulled out all of the stops to punish pro-life advocates under FACE. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, hundreds of churches and pro-life pregnancy centers were vandalized and even firebombed. Yet, the Biden DOJ refused to prosecute the wrongdoers, even though FACE supposedly protects churches and pregnancy centers.
This is why American Family Association is sponsoring a petition to President Trump to fully pardon all Americans unjustly prosecuted by the Biden Administration’s zealous actions against pro-life citizens.
TAKE ACTION
The FACE Act duplicates existing state and local laws that already criminalize assault, threats, and disorderly conduct. It is an unnecessary federal overreach that infringes on states’ rights and has been weaponized for political purposes.
Please take a moment to sign our petition to President Trump, asking him to issue full pardons to all pro-lifers targeted by the FBI and under the FACE Act.
