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Home News Trump Justice Department Limits Enforcement Of Law Protecting Reproductive Health Facilities

Trump Justice Department Limits Enforcement Of Law Protecting Reproductive Health Facilities

by Celia
Reproductive

The Trump administration has ordered federal prosecutors to limit enforcement of a federal law that protects abortion centers, reproductive health centers, and pregnancy resource centers. The administration claims that the Biden administration’s use of this protection was an example of misusing federal power.

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A new memo from the Department of Justice, focuses on the application of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. This law, passed in 1994, makes it illegal to harm, threaten, or interfere with anyone “obtaining or providing reproductive health services” or to damage a facility because it provides such services.

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The new directive, written by Chad Mizelle, the chief of staff to the attorney general, tells prosecutors to enforce the law only in “extraordinary circumstances” or when there is death, extreme bodily harm, or significant property damage.

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According to the memo, most future violations of the FACE Act will be handled by state or local law enforcement. Federal investigations will only happen in cases with “significant aggravating factors.”

“No new abortion-related FACE Act actions—criminal or civil—will be allowed without authorization from the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division,” Mizelle wrote.

This policy change comes after years of criticism from President Trump and his allies, who said the FACE Act was unfairly enforced against anti-abortion activists under the Biden administration.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Justice Department, led by former Attorney General Merrick Garland, created a Reproductive Rights Task Force. According to a June 2024 press release, the department brought at least 25 cases against nearly 60 defendants for FACE Act violations during the Biden administration. These cases included people targeting Planned Parenthood facilities and pregnancy resource centers.

For example, one defendant admitted to firing BB guns at a California Planned Parenthood facility 11 times between 2020 and 2021. Another man pleaded guilty to firebombing a Planned Parenthood building in 2022. In June, three Florida residents pleaded guilty to spraying threatening messages on multiple pregnancy resource centers.

Garland defended the enforcement of the law during his time at the Justice Department. However, current officials argue that there was “not an even-handed administration of justice.”

Mizelle wrote that more than 100 crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches were attacked after the Supreme Court’s decision, but some of those cases went uncharged.

The memo was issued on the same day as the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at the rally, saying, “No longer will our government throw pro-life protesters and activists, elderly grandparents, or anybody else in prison.”

On Thursday, President Trump pardoned 10 people who were charged with violating the FACE Act for blocking a Washington, D.C., reproductive health center in 2020. “They should not have been prosecuted,” Trump said.

The FACE Act also protects places of worship and people exercising their First Amendment right to religious freedom at those places.

During her Senate confirmation hearing, Trump’s pick for attorney general, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, said, “The FACE Act not only protects abortion clinics but also protects pregnancy centers and people going for counseling. The law should be applied evenhandedly.”

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