The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice is using the FACE Act to target peaceful pro-life advocates who are 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 has become concerned at the abusive exercise of power by the DOJ, as Biden administration officials seem intent on terrorizing peaceful pro-life advocates as they express their religious beliefs and free speech rights under the First Amendment.
We urge you to contact your U.S. representative and senators and ask them to support the repeal of the FACE Act.
Recently, Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old pro-life activist who has extensive medical issues, was prosecuted under the FACE Act for simply sitting in the waiting area of an abortion clinic in 2020. Paulette 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 a 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, 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 faces a maximum of 11 years in prison.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Administration has pulled out all the stops to punish pro-life advocates under FACE.
But it is not the business of the federal government to punish minor crimes – that is a city or state matter.
This is why American Family Association is supporting H.R. 5577 and S. 3017, bills that would repeal the FACE Act.
In his press release announcing the bill, Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) said, “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 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 contact your representatives and urge them to support H.R. 5577 and S. 3017, introduced by Representative Chip Roy and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), respectively.
Repealing this law will restore the balance of power between federal and state authorities and protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.
