The FACE Act ensures that all Americans, regardless of their views, can have a legal and safe abortion.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer, the Justice Department has been actively prosecuting pro-life campaigners under laws from the 1990s, as Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta acknowledged earlier this month.
In a speech commemorating the Justice Department’s 65th birthday on December 6, Gupta said that the ruling “dealt a terrible blow to women throughout the country.”
She said that the decision nullified a constitutionally protected right to abortion and increased the “urgency” of the Department of Justice’s attempts to “implement the FACE Act to secure continuous lawful access to reproductive services.”
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (FACE Act) ensures that all Americans, regardless of their beliefs about abortion, have equal access to reproductive health care.
It is a federal crime punishable by fines and jail time to “injure, intimidate, or disturb” someone seeking reproductive health care or expressing their First Amendment right to religious freedom in a house of worship. Punitive property damage to a place of worship or a facility providing reproductive health care is also prohibited by the FACE Act.
Since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, the Justice Department has indicted twenty-six pro-life campaigners for exploiting a clause seldom used in 2020 and 2021. Contrarily, the DOJ only states four FACE Act indictments were brought that year.
Several violent confrontations have broken out between pro-choice protesters and pro-life activists at pro-life pregnancy clinics in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling. The Department of Justice has begun investigating and prosecuting pro-life activists for suspected FACE Act breaches. At least one organization, Jane’s Revenge, has claimed responsibility for the attacks on at least 18 of these pro-life clinics.
However, no FACE Act charges have been brought, and the FBI has not made any arrests related to these incidents.
Fox News Digital has consulted Gupta for his opinion. President Joe Biden nominated her for the attorney general’s office on April 21, 2021, and the Senate promptly confirmed her the following day.