In the wake of the Biden administration's selective use of the FACE Act to target pro-life conservatives the conservative leaders who participate in the Conservative Action Project have issued a Memo for the Movement decrying the abuse of pro-lifers, such as three peaceful pro-life activists who now face "a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000." Two of the women charged are over seventy years of age.
The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), call today and tell your Senators and Representative to vote YES when a FACE Act repeal bill comes before them.
The text of the Conservative Action Project Memo for the Movement and list of signers follows:
Washington, DC
Conservatives stand united against the unjust and illegal, selective prosecution of conservatives under the unconstitutional Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). The 1994 federal criminal law, signed by President Clinton, has been consistently abused under the Biden Administration to intimidate, harass, and punish its political opponents.
The FACE Act must be repealed. We urge Congress to take swift and aggressive action against it. At a minimum, Congress should mark-up and pass Rep. Chip Roy's H.R. 5577 and Sen. Mike Lee's S. 3017 repealing the FACE Act.
An honest legal review of the FACE Act (18 U.S.C. § 248) shows it is constitutionally suspect. Congress claimed jurisdiction to enact it under the much-abused Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet it failed to address how even that approach would justify this granting of general police power that is traditionally reserved for the states. Given the topic of the legislation, prohibiting actions to block access to abortion clinics, if its constitutional underpinnings were suspect then, they have entirely crumbled now that the U.S. Supreme Court has admitted there is no constitutional right to abortion.
Worse yet, the Biden Administration is abusing this law to punish pro-life activists who are a major target of one of the Administration's biggest donor base, abortion lobbyists. In September, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) got convictions against three peaceful pro-life activists who now face "a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000." Two of the women charged are over seventy years of age.
The case of pro-life advocate Mark Houck, who also faced the wrath of the Biden DOJ under the FACE Act over a mundane 2021 encounter with a Planned Parenthood escort outside a Pennsylvania clinic, is another egregious example. The altercation would normally not garner any attention outside the local clinic. Instead, the Biden FBI showed up to arrest Houck at his home, terrifying his wife and children. He was later acquitted of the charges, but the damage to his family cannot be overstated.
In March of 2022, DOJ announced the indictments of nine defendants under the FACE Act for "obstructing patients and providers of a reproductive health services facility." After their conviction, they, too, face more than a decade in prison. In 2022, the Department of Justice charged 26 pro-life individuals with FACE Act violations. On the other hand, zero indictments were brought against those who not only protested but vandalized numerous pro-life clinics. In 2023, the DOJ filed nearly thirty FACE Act charges.
The emphasis on targeting pro-life Americans is part of the Biden Administration's plan of action after the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta delivered remarks at DOJ's Civil Rights Division's 65th Anniversary in December 2022, where she said:
[T]he Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to women throughout the country, taking away the constitutional right to abortion and increasing the urgency of our work, including enforcement of the FACE Act, to ensure continued lawful access to reproductive services.
DOJ was unmoved as more than 100 pro-life clinics, organizations, and churches were attacked following the famous Dobbs leak. Their twisted schemes of targeting pro-life conservatives continued in 2023, where another 26 charges have been brought. DOJ has never used the FACE Act to prosecute anyone blocking access to a church or house of worship.
Americans have witnessed constant protests at the homes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices with no arrests, violent Black Lives Matter protests with millions of dollars in damages encouraged by the Biden Administration, anti-Israel protests shutting down entire highways, blocking access to emergency health services, defended under the First Amendment. But somehow, peaceful pro-life advocates are beyond First Amendment protection. This is an outrageous violation of the most fundamental principles of freedom and liberty.
The selective application of First Amendment rights must end now. The FACE Act must be repealed.
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
Marty Dannenfelser
Vice President for Government Relations and Coalitions, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Bob Carlstrom
President, AMAC Action
The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Advancing American Freedom
Thomas E. McClusky
PrincipalGreenlight Strategies, LLC
Chad Connelly
Founder and President
Faith Wins
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Jim DeMint
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
William L. Walton
The Bill Walton Show
Resolute Protector Foundation
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Walker Wildmon
CEO
AFA Action
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Tim Throckmorton
President
Lifepointe Ministries
Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy
Committee for Justice
Ron Pearson
Executive Director
Conservative Victory Fund
Donna Rice Hughes
CEO
DRH Enterprises
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director for President Reagan (1985-1989)
Ralph Benko
Co-founder and Chairman
The Capitalist League
Kielle Lindsey
President
The Lindsey Foundation
Paavo Ensio
Chairman
Universal Minerals Group
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Ralph Rebandt
Pastor/President
Michigan Lighthouse Ministries
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Steven H. Aden
General Counsel
Americans United for Life
Allen Hebert
Chairman, American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
Penny Y. Nance
President & CEO
Concerned Women for America
Star Parker
President & CEO, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Rebecca Weber
CEO
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
Jenny Beth Martin
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Alfred S. Regnery
President
Republic Book Publishers
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
Thomas H. Jones
Founder
American Accountability Foundation
Wesley Denton
Chief Operating Officer
Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project and President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
President
The Leadership Institute
The Honorable Penny Pullen
President
Life Advocacy Resource Project
James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman
James Dobson Family Institute
Craig Shirley
Reagan Biographer
Presidential Historian
Gary Marx
President
The Concord Fund
Mike Davis
President & Founder
Article III Project
The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr.
Managing Editor
ConservativeHQ.com
Tom DeWeese
President
American Policy Center
Joan Holt Lindsey
President
Lindsey Communications
E.C. Sykes
General Partner
Aslan Ventures
E.W. Jackson
Founder & President
STAND Foundation, Inc.
The Honorable Richard D. Hayes
State Representative
State of Texas
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
Joseph A. Morris
Partner, Morris & De La Rosa, Former Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Reagan / Meese
Rick Rounsavelle
Trustee
MRC
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
Shannon O. Royce
President
Christian Employers Alliance
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
- Pro life movement
- FACE Act
- Sen. Mike Lee
- Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act
- State police powers
- Merrick Garland
- Biden administration
- Free Speech
- Freedom of Assembly
- Chip Roy
- Limits on abortion
- Mark Houck
- Dobbs decision
- 2024 election
- Jim Jordan
- lawfare
- Freedom Caucus
- Byron Donalds
- abortion
