The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new nearly $1.8 billion fund to provide payouts to people who claim they were targeted with politically motivated prosecutions by prior presidential administrations. The announcement explicitly identified anti-abortion extremists convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) as potential recipients, many of whom broke into clinics, stole fetal tissue, and attacked patients and healthcare workers, among other crimes. 

Shortly after his second inauguration, President Trump pardoned 23 FACE Act violators and his DOJ issued an order informing the Department’s prosecutors to cease enforcement of the FACE Act. Those 23 violators are now eligible to seek unrestricted money from the fund, paid for with U.S. taxes, amid an increasing surge of violence against abortion providers that DOJ will not investigate.