FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Rep. Chip Roy said Congress should vote by the end of the year to repeal the law used by the Biden Department of Justice to throw pro-lifers in prison.
“Obviously, we need to move the bill forward, and it would be critical because of what we’re seeing with respect to the persecution of Americans being put in jail,” the Texas Republican told The Daily Signal.
Roy introduced a bill on Sept. 19, 2023, to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994, which “prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a Senate version of the bill the next month.
Critics have accused the Biden administration’s DOJ of weaponizing the FACE Act against pro-lifers while failing to charge pro-abortion vandals for the hundreds of attacks on pro-life pregnancy help centers since the leak of the draft Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in May 2022.
Now that Republicans will have control of the House, Senate, and Executive Branch, Roy said Congress should vote to repeal the FACE Act either by the end of the year or early in January.
“We’re after the election now, so I feel like we ought to put it out there this year. Go ahead and vote on it,” he said, “so that more Americans can’t get persecuted.”
“I think with the trifecta, we should be able to pass it,” the Texas lawmaker continued. “We should bring it forward. But look, Republicans are going to have to get the nerve to actually stand up for both free speech and life.”
At least 14 pro-lifers have been convicted under the FACE Act for peacefully protesting outside abortion clinics during the Biden-Harris administration.
One of these pro-life activists is Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old woman with chronic health conditions, who was sentenced to 24 months in prison for attempting to dissuade women from getting abortions. Another is 89-year-old Eva Edl, who survived a World War II-era death camp before escaping to the United States.
“I think we should repeal it so it can’t be abused,” Roy said.
Some of the convicted pro-life activists are represented by the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based conservative public interest law firm. The firm’s general counsel, Andrew Bath, said the law has been “egregiously abused” and “weaponized.”
Bath said if Congress repeals the FACE Act, it is likely the Trump DOJ would dismiss all the open cases against pro-lifers. President-elect Donald Trump would have a strong reason to pardon the already convicted pro-lifers.
“On its face, you would look at it and say that it protects abortion clinics and pregnancy resource centers and churches equally,” Bath told The Daily Signal. “But it hasn’t been used that way. It’s been applied almost exclusively against pro-lifers, and it’s been weaponized, and this weapon has to be removed from the arsenal of those who are willing to abuse government power.”