The House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing this week to address growing concerns about the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) used the Act to charge 26 pro-life activists in the year Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v Wade. Paul Vaughn woke up to a full FBI raid because of his activism and provided witness to the Administration’s shameful weaponization of the FACE Act.
The subcommittee hearing also included expert witness from Erin Hawley (Senior Counsel and Vice President, Alliance Defending Freedom), Steve Crampton (Senior Counsel, Thomas Moore Society), and Jessica Waters (Professor, American University).
Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman Chip Roy (R-Texas-21st) opened the hearing by framing the FACE Act as “just one tool that the Biden Harris DOJ issued in its years long crusade against political dissenters.”
Congress passed the FACE Act under former president Bill Clinton in 1994 to prohibit any actions intentionally prohibiting a client from entering an abortion clinic. The Act also intends to protect places of religious worship or reproductive health clinics from intentional property damage.
But six months after the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court opinion leak, more than 100 pro-life organizations and churches suffered violent attacks leaving severe property damage. These attacks included arson, graffiti, smashed windows, and other forms of vandalism.
Despite these public systematic attacks, the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice focused their efforts on imprisoning pro-life Christians who peacefully gather outside abortion clinics to pray, worship, and conversate. Since its passage, 97% of FACE prosecutions have been against pro-life advocates.
One of these advocates, Paul Vaugh, testified in the House hearing on Wednesday. He recalled the event in his written testimony:
There were 8 adults arrested that day for passively and peacefully refusing to leave the premises when requested by the police. They did not do this in rebellion against the police, but to identify with the unborn who are unable to leave the womb where they are scheduled to be terminated … I broke no laws, federal or local. In fact, we were expecting our 11th child, and I promised my wife I would stay out of any trouble. So, I was very careful to stay within the legal lines … The police spokesperson complimented the peaceful nature of the group in the media that afternoon.
Mr. Vaughn was not charged that day. Rather, the FBI raided his house over a year and a half later following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe. He was then convicted and sentenced to three years of supervised release confined to his district in Tennessee. There are currently a dozen pro-life activists serving prison sentences due to the FACE Act.
Throughout his testimony, he explained how the current Administration has weaponized the FACE Act to imprison advocates for their pro-life positions. He mentioned Sanjay Patel who birthed the idea that “an old KKK Law could be used in conjunction with the FACE Act to take what the US Congress determined should be a misdemeanor with a maximum of 6 months in prison and turn it into a Felony with a maximum of a 10 year Prison sentence.” He cites Mr. Patel’s theories in the Department of Justice Journal of Federal Law and Practice.
During the hearing, Chairman Roy called on Congress to pass H.R. 5577 which would repeal the Act altogether. Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) supports this legislation.
The FACE Act clearly fails to stop violence and vandalism amidst political and spiritual opposition, but rather paves a new route to jail political challengers based on their beliefs. Upon its repeal, local law enforcement will remain responsible for protecting places of worship and abortion clinics from violence and acts of vandalism under state and local law.
Though President Trump will take control of the DOJ in January and can potentially stop its misuse and abuse, repealing the FACE Act is the permanent step we need to protect Americans’ First Amendment rights, no matter their political alignment. CWALAC supports efforts to stop the weaponization of the FACE Act and seeks justice for the advocates wrongfully imprisoned based on their political and religious beliefs.