House Republicans advance bill to repeal FACE Act

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- The House Judiciary Committee voted June 10 to repeal a federal law crafted to protect access to reproductive health facilities by prohibiting actions such as obstructing the entrance to an abortion clinic.

Congress and then-President Bill Clinton enacted the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, in 1994.

After the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in June 2022, the Biden administration pursued prosecutions under the FACE Act as part of what it called its whole of government response to protect abortion access. However, abortion opponents said the Biden administration weaponized that law, arguing they did not pursue proportionate charges against those who vandalized pro-life facilities.

Within a few days of returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump pardoned 23 individuals pro-life activists said were improperly prosecuted by the Biden administration under the law.

The FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, would, as its title suggests, repeal the law.

"The FACE Act has been undeniably -- and predictably -- weaponized to target pro-life Americans while turning a blind eye to the destruction, vandalism, and even firebombing of pregnancy resource centers and churches," Roy said in a June 10 statement, adding, "Our federal government has too many unnecessary laws that can be abused and weaponized against the people. No American should have the heavy hand of the federal government come down on them simply because they’re speaking out for -- or against -- life, regardless of who is in control of the executive branch."

The FACE Act also protects access to places of religious worship and prohibits intentional property damage to them.

In a post on X, the account for the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee wrote, "The bipartisan FACE Act draws the line between protected First Amendment expression, whether it's speech or writing or praying, and unprotected violent conduct and physical obstruction."

"Why are Republicans trying to repeal it?" it said.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, opposing direct abortion as an act of violence that takes the life of the unborn child.

After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child, and called for strengthening available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.