DOJ orders prosecutors to cease FACE enforcement

On January 24, the Associated Press reported that President Trump’s Justice Department issued an order informing the Department’s prosecutors to cease enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act” barring “extraordinary circumstances” or in cases presenting “significant aggravating factors.” 

The FACE Act prohibits threats of force, obstruction, and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services and has been used to protect reproductive health providers from dangerous acts that can limit patient access to care. The order also immediately dismissed three civil FACE Act cases in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The decision to cease FACE Act enforcement, along with the President’s decision to pardon 23 people convicted under the FACE Act, is an explicit green light to block clinics and deny care to people who need it.