ACLJ’s Fight Vindicated: Bombshell DOJ Report Confirms Biden Administration Weaponized the FACE Act Against Pro-Life Christians

A bombshell report released early this morning by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy confirms what we at the ACLJ have been fighting to expose for years: The Biden Administration weaponized the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act to target, surveil, and prosecute peaceful, pro-life Christians – while systematically ignoring violence against Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) and houses of worship. The ACLJ’s legal work was at the center of this report.

We are grateful to the Department of Justice, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the Trump Administration for having the courage to conduct this thorough review, release these findings to the American public, and begin righting these serious wrongs.

Take action with the ACLJ. Add your name to the petition: Stop the Abortion Industry’s War on Babies.

The ACLJ Sounded the Alarm – and the DOJ Confirms It

The ACLJ wrote a legal letter to Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, in August 2022, raising urgent concerns that PRCs across the nation had been firebombed and vandalized – and that the Biden DOJ was doing nothing about it. We made clear that these facilities are explicitly covered under the FACE Act, and that the failure to protect them represented a profound and troubling double standard.

The Trump DOJ’s new report confirms that our letter was received and circulated internally – forcing the Biden Administration to address the issue. Yet, the task force assigned to investigating PRC violence did not contact any PRC groups until September 2022 – well after the surge in attacks on pro-life facilities that followed the Dobbs decision. Even then, outreach was initiated only after a deputy attorney general performed a Google search to find contacts for those PRCs. Our letter served as the crucial impetus that finally brought these problems to the DOJ’s attention and prompted action. Unfortunately, that response came far too late and remained minimal.

Meanwhile, pro-abortion NGOs like the National Abortion Federation (NAF), Planned Parenthood, and the Feminist Majority Foundation enjoyed what can only be described as a cozy, insider relationship with the very DOJ task force that was supposed to be neutral. The Biden DOJ’s task force director was on texting terms with NAF’s security team, referred to NAF as an “MVP,” and  – without ethics approval – agreed to serve as a reference on NAF’s private grant application, creating a significant conflict of interest.

The contrast in treatment was clear. It took receiving our letter for anything to happen to assist pro-life advocates, while pro-abortion organizations found a DOJ eager to cooperate. In one circumstance, a pro-life organization asked for information about how the FACE Act was being enforced and was told they would have to submit a FOIA. When a pro-abortion NGO asked for essentially the same information, it was provided that information immediately – a stark contrast.

Surveillance, Dossiers, and Targeting Christians

The findings of this morning’s report are deeply disturbing. Pro-abortion NGOs compiled large dossiers on pro-life activists – including photographs of their minor children, home addresses, drivers’ license numbers, and travel itineraries and then provided that intelligence directly to the DOJ and FBI. While the FBI flagged some of the pro-life advocacy as likely constitutionally protected First Amendment activity, the DOJ task force pressed forward anyway.

Shockingly, the report confirms that the DOJ learned of nearly every FACE Act case not from actual crime victims or local law enforcement, but from pro-abortion advocacy organizations. These NGOs were, in effect, driving federal charging decisions against Americans exercising their faith in public.

This is not how the DOJ is supposed to operate. This is not equal protection under the law. This is weaponization.

President Trump Took Action

President Trump issued full and unconditional pardons to pro-life defendants. And the Trump DOJ has dismissed civil FACE Act cases against peaceful demonstrators and has issued new charging guidance requiring extraordinary circumstances before any future FACE Act prosecution proceeds. The DOJ has also filed its first-ever FACE Act statement of interest protecting a synagogue – a long-overdue application of the law to houses of worship.

We thank the DOJ for this report. We thank President Trump for the pardons. And we thank each of you who stood with the ACLJ as we fought to make this moment possible. This DOJ report vindicates not just the individuals who were wrongly prosecuted, but the principled legal stand the ACLJ took on their behalf long before the rest of the world was paying attention.

This is a reminder that the ACLJ’s work can have a real impact – even under Leftist administrations. We know our advocacy helped force the Biden Administration to acknowledge the violence against PRCs – and then exposed their bias. For this reason the ACLJ will continue to hold the line for religious liberty, equal justice, and the constitutional rights of every American.

If you’ve been targeted for your pro-life beliefs, we want to hear from you. You can reach out to us at ACLJ.org/HELP.

Take action with the ACLJ. Add your name to the petition: Stop the Abortion Industry’s War on Babies.