WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new Justice Department leadership issued an order Friday to prosecute people accused of blocking reproductive rights facilities, calling the cases an example of the “weaponization” of law enforcement.
Prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act” will now be allowed only in “exceptional circumstances” or in “cases presenting significant aggravating factors,” Attorney General of Staff Chad Mizell said. said in a memorandum to the head of the department’s civil rights division.
Mizell ordered the immediate dismissal of three Face Act cases related to the 2021 blockades of clinics in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The memo marks a sharp departure from the Justice Department under the Biden administration, which brought cases involving dozens of defendants accused of violating the law. The act prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person’s access to reproductive health services, as well as causing damage to property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers. .
The legal group Thomas More Society, which represents several defendants, called the move a “huge moment in the fight against antitrust.”
The group said, “In each of these three cases, Thomas More Society attorneys were representing many brave and peaceful pro-life defendants—who can now breathe easier without the heavy burden of federal prosecutors on their backs. Are,” the group said on Friday.
Trump vowed to support thousands of anti-abortion protesters heading for Friday’s march, declaring, “We will again stand proudly for families and for life” in a pre-emptive address. . A day earlier, Trump pardoned several anti-abortion activists convicted of blocking abortion clinic entrances in violation of the FACE Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. Has been done
“President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to end the weaponization of the federal government and recently directed all federal departments and agencies to identify and correct the past weaponization of law enforcement,” Mizell said, per the Associated Press. It is written in the memorandum received.
“For many Americans, prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (the ‘FACE Act’) have been the prototypical example of this weaponization. And with good reason,” he wrote.
Mizell, who was brought in to serve as chief of staff for Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said that “in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court, more than 100 crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations and churches were attacked” ruling that Roe v. Turns Wade over. Yet, almost all prosecutions under the FACE Act have been against anti-personnel protesters, he wrote.
“This is not an even-handed administration of justice,” he wrote.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who spoke to the crowd at the March for Life, celebrated the pardon for Face Act defendants and called Trump “the most pro-life American president of our lifetime.”
Abortion-rights advocates slammed Trump’s pardons for people convicted of violating Trump’s law, which was passed in 1994 during a time where clinic protests and blockades were on the rise, as were abortion providers. There was violence against, such as Dr. The murder of David Gunn.
“Not even a week into his presidency, Donald Trump has disregarded the law and greenlighted violence against abortion providers, all at the expense of people who want to live peacefully and safely choose their bodies and health. “, Krista Noah, national director of affiliate safety and response planning at Planned Parenthood Federation, said Thursday.