WASHINGTON (AP) — The new leadership of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department issued an order Friday to curtail prosecutions of people accused of blocking reproductive rights facilities, calling the cases an example of the “weaponization” of law enforcement.
Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act” will now be allowed only in “extraordinary circumstances.” or in cases that arise “significant aggravating factors.”
Mizelle also ordered the immediate dismissal of three FACE Act cases related to blockades of clinics in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio in 2021. One man was accused of “gaining illegal access to a secure patient area at a Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia without the consent or knowledge of staff” and barricading himself in a restroom, according to court papers.
The news comes after Trump pardoned several anti-abortion activists convicted of blocking the entrances to abortion clinics in violation of the FACE Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats.
