Once again, peaceful, pro-life activists are facing the possibility of a decade behind bars and crushing fines after being prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department.
The pro-life advocates were charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act during a peaceful protest they participated in at a Nashville, Tennessee, abortion center.
The FACE Act was intended to protect both crisis pregnancy centers and abortion centers. But the radically pro-abortion Biden administration has essentially weaponized the law only against peaceful pro-life activists.
The demonstration took place in an office building second floor hallway outside of the abortion center. During the peaceful protest, video shows the pro-life advocates praying, singing hymns and pleading with women not to abort their babies.
It is outrageous that in America, in 2024, non-violent activities, including praying and singing hymns, can result in being locked up for a decade. This is the type of persecution one expects in communist China or North Korea—not in "the home of the brave and the land of the free."
Make no mistake about what is happening: This is an effort to intimidate half the country into not exercising our freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and religious freedom. Millions of Americans see that one of our most important principles—"equal treatment before the law"—is under assault.
When the FACE Act was passed in 1994, one of the main arguments was that some people were attempting to deny others their "constitutional right" to abortion. But the Supreme Court has said what we knew all along—that there is no right to abortion in the Constitution. So, the main argument for the FACE Act has disappeared. It should be repealed. Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced legislation to do just that.
I believed the law was unconstitutional in 1994, and I am convinced it is unconstitutional now—especially given how the Biden administration is "weaponizing" the law only against those of us committed to the sanctity of human life.
Pray for the six defendants who will likely be sentenced this July. JDFI will continue our efforts to ensure that all of America's children are welcomed into the world and protected by the law and the promises of America's founding documents. We will work closely with members of Congress to repeal the FACE Act.