Here’s Why The FACE Act Must Be Repealed

Eva Edl was just nine-years-old when she was sent to a Hungarian prison camp by communists at the close of WWII. After spending 18 months in hellish conditions, Edl and her family successfully fled the camp and immigrated to the United States.

That was her first experience with weaponized government power. Now, 80 years later, she faces imprisonment in the United States after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) brought charges against her for protesting abortion.

At 89-years-old, Eva is one of many pro-life Americans facing the wrath of the Biden-Harris DOJ’s weaponization of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Edl and six other defendants currently await federal sentencing for their participation in protests at Michigan abortion clinics.

Enacted in 1994, the FACE Act is a federal law designed to protect access to abortion clinics, pregnancy resource centers, and places of worship. Yet, it essentially duplicates laws already established in all fifty states, thereby paving the way for federal bureaucrats to wage politicized enforcement against ideological and political opponents.

Consequently, the FACE Act has become one of the Biden-Harris administration’s favorite tools to attack the pro-life movement. The administration has disproportionately used it in instances of peaceful, everyday Americans protesting abortion while largely turning a blind eye to hundreds of recorded, violent attacks on pregnancy resource centers and churches in the wake of the leaked Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

After my office made repeated requests of the DOJ to disclose FACE Act prosecution data, we were able to confirm that as of May 2024, the Biden-Harris DOJ had charged 24 FACE Act cases against 55 defendants. Just two of these cases were brought in defense of pregnancy resource centers and never for the protection of a house of worship. This means that nearly 92% of all Biden-Harris FACE Act cases were brought against pro-life demonstrators, despite over 285 churches and 94 pregnancy resource centers and pro-life groups being attacked and vandalized since May 2022.

Under normal circumstances, the sentences for FACE Act prosecutions far outweigh the gravity of the “crimes” – but that still isn’t enough to satisfy the Biden-Harris regime. For the first time in American history, this administration began to tack on “conspiracy against rights” felony charges on top of FACE Act charges, which carry prison sentences upwards of 10 years. The misuse of this reconstruction-era law marked a dramatic escalation against pro-life Americans compared to past administrations.

Because of this additional conspiracy charge, Edl, who was recently sentenced to three years of probation in a Tennessee court, now faces up to 11 years in federal prison and $350,000 in fines — meaning a woman who bravely escaped a death camp as a young girl now faces death in prison in the United States for standing up for the sanctity of life.

And Edl is far from alone.

Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old grandmother, was sentenced to serve two years in prison for her participation in protesting a D.C. abortion clinic where the bodies of five late-term babies were allegedly discovered. D.C. Judge Kollar-Kotelly, who oversaw Harlow’s bench trial, referred to the sit-in protest as “violent” and refused evidence showing clinic abortionist Cesare Santangelo’s willingness to deny care to a newborn who survives an abortion – in violation of federal law.

Further, after Harlow’s husband begged for mercy, expressing his fear that his wife would die alone in prison, Judge Kollar-Kotelly taunted that maybe Paula would “make an effort to remain alive” because that is a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion.”

The FBI sent a clear message to pro-life Americans in 2022 when their swat team descended on the home of Mark Houck following an incident outside a Philadelphia abortion facility between a clinic escort and his 12-year-old son. This was despite the incident being almost a year old and after both state and local authorities declined to prosecute. A federal jury rightfully acquitted Houck after fewer than three hours of deliberation, but the prosecution was the point.

Where fear like this is planted, tyranny flourishes.

To stop this growing weaponization and intimidation, Congress should stop this targeted harassment and ensure the FACE Act is repealed. Allowing it to remain means permitting bureaucrats at the highest levels of government to unequally apply the law, target pro-life Americans with unwarranted retaliation, and shield a radical abortion industry. That is why I am proud to have introduced H.R. 5577, the FACE Act Repeal Act, in order to finally hold this administration accountable and eradicate this unconstitutional threat to all Americans.

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Rep. Chip Roy is a devoted husband and father of two currently serving his third term in Congress representing Texas’s 21st Congressional District — which includes South Austin, North San Antonio, and the Texas Hill Country.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.