Conservative Action Project

February 12, 2024
Washington, D.C.

Conservatives stand united against the unjust and illegal, selective prosecution of conservatives under the unconstitutional Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). The 1994 federal criminal law, signed by President Clinton, has been consistently abused under the Biden Administration to intimidate, harass, and punish its political opponents.

The FACE Act must be repealed. We urge Congress to take swift and aggressive action against it. At a minimum, Congress should mark-up and pass Rep. Chip Roy’s H.R. 5577 and Sen. Mike Lee’s S. 3017 repealing the FACE Act.

An honest legal review of the FACE Act (18 U.S.C. § 248) shows it is constitutionally suspect. Congress claimed jurisdiction to enact it under the much-abused Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet it failed to address how even that approach would justify this granting of general police power that is traditionally reserved for the states. Given the topic of the legislation, prohibiting actions to block access to abortion clinics, if its constitutional underpinnings were suspect then, they have entirely crumbled now that the U.S. Supreme Court has admitted there is no constitutional right to abortion.

Worse yet, the Biden Administration is abusing this law to punish pro-life activists who are a major target of one of the Administration’s biggest donor base, abortion lobbyists. In September, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) got convictions against three peaceful pro-life activists who now face “a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000.” Two of the women charged are over seventy years of age.

The case of pro-life advocate Mark Houck, who also faced the wrath of the Biden DOJ under the FACE Act over a mundane 2021 encounter with a Planned Parenthood escort outside a Pennsylvania clinic, is another egregious example. The altercation would normally not garner any attention outside the local clinic. Instead, the Biden FBI showed up to arrest Houck at his home, terrifying his wife and children. He was later acquitted of the charges, but the damage to his family cannot be overstated.

In March of 2022, DOJ announced the indictments of nine defendants under the FACE Act for “obstructing patients and providers of a reproductive health services facility.” After their conviction, they, too, face more than a decade in prison. In 2022, the Department of Justice charged 26 pro-life individuals with FACE Act violations. On the other hand, zero indictments were brought against those who not only protested but vandalized numerous pro-life clinics. In 2023, the DOJ filed nearly thirty FACE Act charges.

The emphasis on targeting pro-life Americans is part of the Biden Administration’s plan of action after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta delivered remarks at DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s 65th Anniversary in December 2022, where she said:

[T]he Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to women throughout the country, taking away the constitutional right to abortion and increasing the urgency of our work, including enforcement of the FACE Act, to ensure continued lawful access to reproductive services.

DOJ was unmoved as more than 100 pro-life clinics, organizations, and churches were attacked following the famous Dobbs leak. Their twisted schemes of targeting pro-life conservatives continued in 2023, where another 26 charges have been brought. DOJ has never used the FACE Act to prosecute anyone blocking access to a church or house of worship.

Americans have witnessed constant protests at the homes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices with no arrests, violent Black Lives Matter protests with millions of dollars in damages encouraged by the Biden Administration, anti-Israel protests shutting down entire highways, blocking access to emergency health services, defended under the First Amendment. But somehow, peaceful pro-life advocates are beyond First Amendment protection. This is an outrageous violation of the most fundamental principles of freedom and liberty.

The selective application of First Amendment rights must end now. The FACE Act must be repealed.

The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
Penny Y. Nance
President & CEO
Concerned Women for America
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
Star Parker
President & CEO
Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Marty Dannenfelser
Vice President for Government Relations and Coalitions
Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Rebecca Weber
CEO
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
Bob Carlstrom
President
AMAC Action
Jenny Beth Martin
The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Advancing American Freedom
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Thomas E. McClusky
Principal
Greenlight Strategies, LLC
Alfred S. Regnery
President
Republic Book Publishers
Chad Connelly
Founder and President
Faith Wins
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
Thomas H. Jones
Founder
American Accountability Foundation
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
Wesley Denton
Chief Operating Officer
Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs
President Ronald Reagan
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
The Honorable Jim DeMint
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project
President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
William L. Walton
The Bill Walton Show
Resolute Protector Foundation
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
President
The Leadership Institute
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
The Honorable Penny Pullen
President
Life Advocacy Resource Project
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman
James Dobson Family Institute
Walker Wildmon
CEO
AFA Action
Craig Shirley
Reagan Biographer
Presidential Historian
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Gary Marx
President
The Concord Fund
Tim Throckmorton
President
Lifepointe Ministries
Mike Davis
President & Founder
Article III Project
Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation
The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr.
Managing Editor
ConservativeHQ.com
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Tom DeWeese
President
American Policy Center
Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy
Committee for Justice
Joan Holt Lindsey
President
Lindsey Communications
Ron Pearson
Executive Director
Conservative Victory Fund
E.C. Sykes
General Partner
Aslan Ventures
Donna Rice Hughes
CEO
DRH Enterprises
E.W. Jackson
Founder & President
STAND Foundation, Inc.
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director for President Reagan (1985-1989)
The Honorable Richard D. Hayes
State Representative
State of Texas
Ralph Benko
Co-founder and Chairman
The Capitalist League
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
Kielle Lindsey
President
The Lindsey Foundation
Joseph A. Morris
Partner, Morris & De La Rosa
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Reagan / Meese
Paavo Ensio
Chairman
Universal Minerals Group
Rick Rounsavelle
Trustee
MRC
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
Ralph Rebandt
Pastor/President
Michigan Lighthouse Ministries
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Shannon O. Royce
President
Christian Employers Alliance
Steven H. Aden
General Counsel
Americans United for Life
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
Allen Hebert
Chairman
American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
 

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