A new report from the U.S. Department of Justice reveals a scandal following Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization beyond vandals throwing Molotov cocktails at pregnancy care centers or the Jane’s Revenge spray painting threats around statues of the Virgin Mary. It shows the weaponization of the law against pro-life Americans by the U.S. Department of Justice.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, angry mobs took out their frustration on pro-life America. Too often, the targets of their vitriol were pro-life pregnancy care centers—small, often religious groups whose radical mission is to care for mothers experiencing an unplanned pregnancy with education, resources (diapers, blankets, etc.), and support.
Repeatedly, activists with Jane’s Revenge spray-painted threatening slogans like “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you” on pregnancy centers. Some threw light bulbs filled with red paint against buildings to simulate blood splatter. Others shattered windows, disabled security systems, and even set buildings on fire.
Years before, Congress passed the FACE Act. And recently, the FACE Act gained attention for its application to so-called journalists like Don Lemon, who joined angry agitators by invading a church in Minnesota to “protest” the actions of ICE. FACE (“Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances”) became law during the Clinton Administration to combat violence against abortion facilities, but it applies to any “reproductive health center,” whether pro-abortion or pro-life.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice had the opportunity to deploy FACE evenly. A new report from the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice reveals it did not.
While the Biden DOJ routinely colluded with pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, it routinely denied the release of information that would help and even protect pro-life Americans.
For instance, the Biden DOJ monitored pro-life Americans for years using information received from abortion activists. In one instance, it received a 137-page dossier on pro-life Americans that included “addresses, photographs (including of spouses and minor children), names of associates and affiliated ministries, information about their upcoming travel plans or planned protests, and even drivers’ license numbers.”
Rather than investigate the abortion activists for how they obtained such personally identifying information, the Biden DOJ used it to aid the prosecution of pro-lifers. Then, it denied defendants access to key information in its possession—information that could have been exculpatory.
Despite over 100 pro-life reproductive centers being victims of violence from Jane’s Revenge, the Biden DOJ did nothing—until it became impossible to ignore.
As the newly released report indicates, “the Biden DOJ largely ignored attacks on pro-life pregnancy resource centers, only charging five people for vandalism and attacks.” The report suggests that even these prosecutions appear reluctant.
The outcomes of each confirm that. At the same time, Biden DOJ officials prosecuted more than 20 pro-lifers and requested sentences of up to 78-months. The same DOJ prosecuted only six Jane’s Revenge vandals, requesting, on average, a scant 12 months of sentencing for their crimes.
While much of the new report focuses on how the Biden DOJ politically targeted pro-life Americans, the FACE Act also protects the nation’s houses of worship from violence. Though pressure came from the U.S. Senate to assert the laws of the United States against those interfering with access to the nation’s houses of worship, the report ends with a chilling sentence: “Despite the increased hostility faced by houses of worship, the Biden DOJ did not pursue a single FACE Act case involving houses of worship during this time.”
The Biden administration’s selective enforcement of the FACE Act was an unconscionable abuse of power. The choice to inequitably apply the law denied justice to pro-life Americans and undermined our republic. Worse still, deploying the FACE Act as a means of political cover is a tacit admission that the Biden DOJ could have done more to protect Americans of every ideological background. Instead, it chose politics over justice.
The current DOJ — which should be commended for producing this report — must take active measures to ensure that the Department may never again weaponize the law against its political enemies. Those task forces that have been corrupted in the pursuit of this injustice must be permanently disbanded.
As John Adams once observed, ours is “a government of laws, not men.” But the Biden DOJ chose to ignore that observation, lifted the veil over the eyes of Lady Justice, and pointed the sword of justice at those who deserved its protection. May it never be so again.
Jeremy Dys is Senior Counsel and chair of the education practice group for First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all. Learn more at FirstLiberty.org.