Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy is pushing for a vote on his legislation to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, citing the Biden administration’s alleged weaponization of the law against pro-life activists. Roy announced his efforts in a March 4 interview with the Daily Caller.
Roy reintroduced the bill in January, arguing that the FACE Act has been used by the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) to unfairly target pro-life demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights. “This is legislation that has been hyper-politicized and abused by weaponizing the Department of Justice and prosecuting Americans for simply exercising free speech rights that believe in life. It’s unacceptable,” Roy stated.
The FACE Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits the use or threat of physical force, intimidation, or obstruction to prevent someone from obtaining an abortion or exercising religious freedom at a place of worship. While the law applies to both pro-life and pro-abortion activists, DOJ data shows that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions have been directed at pro-life individuals. The Biden administration has been responsible for over a quarter of all prosecutions under the law.
Roy anticipates resistance from some Republicans but is determined to move the bill forward. He has signaled his willingness to file a discharge petition, a legislative procedure that allows a majority of the House to bring a bill to the floor for a vote without committee approval.
At a March 6 speech at the Heritage Foundation, Roy reiterated his commitment to ending what he sees as a double standard in the enforcement of the FACE Act. The law has been used to impose multi-year prison sentences on peaceful pro-life demonstrators, including an elderly survivor of a Communist prison camp. Roy pointed to former President Donald Trump’s recent pardons of 23 pro-life activists convicted under the act as further evidence of the Biden administration’s misuse of federal power.
Pro-life demonstrators have frequently protested outside abortion clinics, such as the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Many have been arrested and charged under the FACE Act, despite also facing state and local laws regulating protests. Roy argues that local ordinances should be the primary mechanism for addressing any unlawful activity rather than broad federal enforcement.
“There are things you cannot do, [protestors] know what those are, and if they cross those lines, they’re going to have to deal with local laws. But this is, again, where judgment matters, and the FACE Act should not be applied to them,” Roy stated.
The repeal effort comes as concerns grow over the Biden administration’s broader use of federal agencies to target conservatives. Republicans in Congress continue to scrutinize the DOJ’s enforcement actions, viewing them as part of a larger pattern of political bias.
