Federal prosecutors have been directed to limit their enforcement of a federal law that protects abortion centers, reproductive health centers and pregnancy resource centers from violations in “exceptional circumstances” or in cases where death, extreme bodily harm or significant property damage occurs. The new Justice Department memo was released Friday and obtained by CBS News.
The directive, written by the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, Chad Mizell, focused on the Justice Department's application of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Access Act (“FACE Act”). Law – passed in 1994 – Makes it illegal for a person to “obtain or provide reproductive health services” or to harm, threaten, or interfere with a facility “because such facility provides reproductive health.” The act provides equal protection to places of worship and individuals “exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
According to the Justice Department memo, future FACE Act violations will be left mostly to state or local law enforcement, with the exception of federal investigations in cases “presenting significant aggravating factors.”
“Until further notice, no new abortion-related FACE Act actions – criminal or civil – will be permitted without the authorization of the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division,” Mizell wrote.
The policy change comes after years of criticism by President Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill, who have argued that the FACE Act was disproportionately enforced against anti-abortion activists during the Biden administration. The memo released Friday alleged a pattern that was a “prototypical example of weaponization.”
After the Supreme Court decision reverse Roe v. Wade, the Justice Department under former Attorney General Merrick Garland established a Reproductive Rights Task ForceAccording to a June 2024 press release, the Justice Department brought at least 25 cases against approximately 60 defendants for violations of the FACE Act during the Biden administration. The individuals were accused of targeting facilities ranging from Planned Parenthood facilities to pregnancy resource centers.
These cases include one in which a defendant admitted to firing BB guns at a California Planned Parenthood facility on 11 separate occasions between 2020 and 2021. Another California man pleads guilty bombs were thrown A Planned Parenthood building with a Molotov cocktail in 2022.
And in June, three Florida residents pleaded guilty to spreading threatening messages at several pregnancy resource centers.
Garland defended prosecutors' enforcement of the law throughout his tenure at the Justice Department, but current Justice Department officials charged in Friday's directive that “the administration of justice was not even-handed.”
Mizell wrote, “More than 100 crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches were attacked immediately after the Supreme Court's decision”, arguing that some of those cases were not prosecuted.
The memo was released on the same day that abortion opponents gathered in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at the rally, and said of the Trump administration, “No longer will our government imprison pro-life protesters and activists, elderly grandparents or anyone else.”
On Thursday, Mr. Trump pardoned 10 defendants who were charged with violating the FACE Act after prosecutors said they led a blockade of a Washington, D.C., reproductive health services center in 2020.
The President said, “He should not have been prosecuted.”
During her Senate confirmation hearing, Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General chosen by Mr. Trump to lead the Justice Department, said, “The FACE Act not only protects abortion clinics, but it also protects pregnancy centers and counseling centers.” It also protects the people being taken. The law must be applied equally.”