Last week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to advance the FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025. The bill, if signed into law, would repeal the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act which criminalizes “threats of force, obstruction, and property damage” with the intent to disrupt or prevent access to abortion clinics, fertility clinics, and pregnancy centers.
Though its plain text appears innocuous, enforcement of the FACE Act has been remarkably disproportionate—the law has served as the abortion activist’s legal weapon for targeting and prosecuting pro-life activists, side-walk counselors, and peaceful protestors. Since 1994, 97% of FACE prosecutions were raised against pro-life Americans.
Following the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Biden Administration ramped up its efforts to wield the FACE Act against pro-life Americans. Under the law itself, violators face up to 12 months in prison; the administration, however, intentionally paired felony conspiracy charges with FACE charges, raising jail sentences to ten years. In 2022 alone, the Biden Department of Justice charged 26 pro-lifers under the FACE Act.
Thankfully, the Trump Administration has remedied much of this politically-motivated abuse of the FACE Act. Days after he took office, President Trump pardoned 23 pro-life prisoners and directed the Department of Justice to limit FACE Act prosecutions to “extraordinary circumstances” involving death, serious injury, or property damage. Even as lawfare against pro-life Americans slows, however, pro-life lawmakers are concerned about abuse in future pro-abortion administrations. In last week’s heated committee markup on the bill, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas 21st) stated his goal for the FACE Act Repeal Act: “To ensure future administrations are unable to weaponize this statute against peaceful advocates.”
Democratic Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (Maryland 8th) pushed back on Chairman Roy’s opening statement, claiming that the text of the 1994 FACE Act also makes provisions for pro-life pregnancy centers. Raskin failed to mention, however, that zero pro-abortion extremists were charged with FACE violations under the Biden DOJ in 2022.
In the wake of both the Dobbs leak and the official announcement of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, more than fifty pregnancy care centers across the United States were bombed, vandalized, and burned. Not a single incident was followed up with a FACE charge. For the pro-abortion left, FACE isn’t about access to clinics. It’s about targeting political opponents— pro-life Americans.
The FACE Act is also constitutionally suspect considering the significant viewpoint discrimination evident in its enforcement. In the Judiciary Committee markup, Chairman Roy referenced violations of the First Amendment freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, claiming that FACE enforcement has “selectively targeted disapproved speech.” After a long period of comments and debate ranging from constitutionality, anecdotes, and abortion, the FACE Act Repeal Act was advanced out of the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 13-10 and will hopefully head for a full vote on the House floor in the near future.
For twenty years, the FACE Act has served as the abortion industry’s weapon for political prosecutions against pro-lifers. If the FACE Act Repeal Act is signed into law, disproportionate lawfare against pro-life speech and expression will begin to dwindle after twenty years of pro-abortion legal tyranny.
Let us continue to pray for this legislation as it makes its way closer to the President’s desk.