The Department of Justice (DOJ) continued its relentless pursuit of pro-life activists following the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, indicting eight people on charges they violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) at a pair of Michigan abortion clinics in 2020.
The DOJ announced the indictments on Wednesday alleging each of the individuals “engaged in a conspiracy to prevent” a clinic in Sterling Heights “from providing, and patients there from receiving, reproductive health services.”
Those charged are accused of using “physical obstruction” to harass both patients and employees to interfere with their appointments.
Anyone found guilty of violating the FACE Act faces up to 11 years in prison and $350,000 in fines.
Justice Department charges more pro-lifers with blocking access to abortion clinics https://t.co/0jQ5QGhVsE
— Jeffrey A. Setaro (@jasetaro) February 23, 2023
RELATED: Leaked FBI Memo Reportedly Shows Bureau, DOJ Targeting Catholics as ‘Violent Extremists’
DOJ Targeting Pro-Life Activists
The targeting of pro-life activists by Biden’s DOJ has been an extremely underreported story, accelerating their pursuit in the post-Roe era.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has, from an early point in his tenure, been a proponent of using the FACE Act to “protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.”
The Political Insider reported in October that the DOJ was attacking pro-life Americans, charging 11 activists with violations of the Act for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in 2021.
By contrast, Garland and the DOJ have taken no action against leftists who have fire-bombed multiple crisis pregnancy centers. Centers that have been consistent targets of attacks across the country.
Peaceful protests at abortion clinics get you federal charges from the DOJ.
Acts of terrorism against pregnancy centers are totally fine.https://t.co/TpFlLGsWt6
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 6, 2022
Less than one month ago, a federal jury acquitted pro-life protestor Mark Houck of federal charges alleging he had pushed an abortion clinic escort in Philadelphia.
Houck’s charges similarly fell under the FACE Act. Local prosecutors had declined to pursue the case, but the feds took over and sent a team of armed FBI agents to his home, arresting him in front of his wife and children.
Mark Houck’s children share what it was like when armed FBI agents came to arrest their dad. pic.twitter.com/rMmf9DkHMQ
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) February 20, 2023
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DOJ Targeting Catholics as ‘Violent Extremists’
The GOP-led House of Representatives will reportedly use their newly formed subcommittee on “the weaponization of the federal government” to investigate the DOJ’s seemingly excessive pursuit of pro-life activists.
“This subcommittee will be critical for providing oversight and accountability against a federal government that has been brazenly and unashamedly turned against the people,” Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) told the Catholic News Agency.
What happened to pro-life activist Mark Houck was OUTRAGEOUS!
Merrick Garland has done more damage to the credibility of the DOJ and FBI than any Attorney General in history. pic.twitter.com/LfcS0ybTAf
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 1, 2022
Earlier this month, The Political Insider reported that the DOJ and FBI, according to a leaked memo, had been warning that “radical traditionalist” Catholics pose an extremist threat.
I cannot believe the FBI had an internal memo calling Catholic Virginians “violent extremists” because of their religious views.
This rhetoric from the government is wrong and un-American, and I demand answers!https://t.co/AwDvp2DXss
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) February 10, 2023
“Anti-Catholic bigotry appears to be festering in the FBI, and the Bureau is treating Catholics as potential terrorists because of their beliefs,” a letter from 20 attorneys general to Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray reads.
Garland’s DOJ is perhaps the most overtly political department with significant real-world consequences for the accused perhaps in the history of this country.
They pursued parents as domestic terrorists using the Patriot Act, they portrayed American truckers protesting vaccine mandates as a terrorist threat, and now are using the FACE Act to wantonly go after pro-life activists.
House lawmakers need to get to the bottom of this before any more lives are ruined for the crime of being on the wrong side politically of the Biden administration.
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