The Department of Justice has been relying on a 1994 law to arrest anti-abortion activists amid an influx of violent attacks at religious pregnancy centers that have gone uncharged.
The law, known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, serves as the agency’s enforcement arm against “threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said on Dec. 6 that the Supreme Court‘s overturning of Roe v. Wade had increased the DOJ’s “urgency” for “enforcement of the FACE Act, to ensure continued lawful access to reproductive services,” according to a press release recounting her remarks from the Civil Rights Division’s 65th anniversary.
But Gupta’s admission amplifies previous questions about attacks against religious pregnancy resource centers that have gone unpunished, which include instances of arson, vandalism, and violent threats. For example, at least 77 pregnancy resource centers have been targeted for vandalism this year, and not a single instance resulted in an arrest charge, according to Catholic Vote, a group tracking crimes against pregnancy centers.
FBI INVESTIGATING ‘SERIES OF ATTACKS AND THREATS’ AGAINST PREGNANCY CENTERS AND FAITH-BASED GROUPS
So far, the department’s Civil Rights Division has charged 26 anti-abortion activists over FACE Act violations this year. It’s not immediately clear how many pro-abortion rights activists have been charged under the FACE Act.
Last week, a DOJ official noted it was investigating “multiple reports” of attacks against pregnancy centers that don’t provide abortions and told Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) that the FACE Act is intended to apply equally to threats against pregnancy resource centers and abortion clinics, according to the Daily Signal.
Catholic Vote says the number of crisis center attacks could be greater than 77, as certain threats are never reported because “resource centers want to protect their clients.”
A bulk of the attacks on pregnancy centers purportedly stem from pro-abortion rights umbrella groups known as Jane’s Revenge and Ruth Sent Us, which formed after the Supreme Court’s June opinion allowed states to impose laws severely restricting abortion access. Several graffiti vandalism incidents have included the names of the groups spray painted on private property.
A spokesperson for the FBI’s national press office told the Washington Examiner the bureau is continuing a series of investigations into “pregnancy resource centers, faith-based organizations, and reproductive health clinics across the country, as well as to judicial buildings, including the US Supreme Court.” Such investigations into a range of different attacks have been ongoing at least since June 16, according to a previous statement.
The series of instances are being investigated for a range of violations including domestic violent extremism, FACE Act violations, or violent crime matters.
The 26 FACE Act charges for anti-abortion activists, which exceeds the level of punishment for those who attack anti-abortion pregnancy centers, coincides with continued threats against some religious anti-abortion groups.
Last week, a Catholic church in Omaha, Nebraska, was threatened in an anonymous letter with a plot to “shoot up” the house of worship with AR-style firearms if the city of Bellevue, which is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, passed an abortion ban.
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“If our right to abortion in Bellevue is taken away due to the attempt to pass an abortion ban and it gets passed we will shoot up your Newman center with our new AR14 rifles. Sincerely, Jane’s revenge,” the letter said, which was addressed to the St. John Paul II Newman Center’s Rev. Dan Andrews.
The FBI’s Omaha field office is investigating the threat in coordination with the Omaha Police Department and the Department of Public Safety, a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
