The FACE Act was used almost exclusively against pro-life advocates – some elderly and non-violent – while attacks on churches and pregnancy centers went unpunished.
(LifeSiteNews) -- A U.S. House committee has advanced a Republican-led bill to repeal the controversial FACE Act, a law used by the Biden administration to imprison peaceful pro-life protesters, including elderly women.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 13–10 on Tuesday to approve the bill, spearheaded by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), which would repeal the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
The law criminalizes obstruction or interference outside abortion businesses and pregnancy centers. Pro-life advocates say the law has been weaponized to criminalize peaceful dissent against abortion – while turning a blind eye to violence against churches and pregnancy centers.
The FACE Act was signed by President Bill Clinton but came under renewed scrutiny after Biden’s Justice Department ramped up its enforcement.
According to Roy’s office, 97 percent of FACE Act prosecutions over the last 30 years have targeted pro-lifers. Among them was 89-year-old Eva Edl, who faced more than a decade in prison before receiving probation and a 2025 pardon from President Donald Trump.
Others include Paul Vaughn, a Tennessee father arrested in front of his children for a peaceful sit-in.
Between 2021 and 2024, Biden’s Department of Justice secured 34 convictions under the law – often stacking charges with “conspiracy against rights” to magnify penalties. At the same time, more than 300 attacks on pro-life facilities after the Dobbs leak received virtually no federal enforcement.
The law’s original framing – protecting access to abortion and pregnancy centers alike – has long ceased to function in practice. Prosecutors rarely invoke it on behalf of pro-life organizations, even when they’re firebombed or vandalized. Instead, it has allowed federal agents to treat elderly women and Christian families as domestic threats.
Pro-abortion politicians have taken to X to express their concerns. The official account for the "House Judiciary Dems" called the FACE Act “an effective, bipartisan law,” citing Rep. Deborah Ross claiming Republicans want it repealed because it “works”:
Pro-life leaders say the repeal is essential to ensure that peaceful advocacy for the unborn is not treated as a federal crime. Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, said that “Congress must pass this bill and protect freedom of speech and pro-life activism”:
The repeal bill now moves to the House Rules Committee. In the Senate, companion legislation from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) faces long odds in a chamber where 60 votes are required.
But with Trump’s support – and new DOJ guidance limiting FACE Act prosecutions to “extraordinary circumstances” – momentum is shifting.
