Trump Justice Dept. limits enforcement of FACE Act violations, pauses abortion-related actions
CBSN
Federal prosecutors have been directed to limit their enforcement of a federal law that protects abortion centers, reproductive health centers and pregnancy resource centers to violations presenting "extraordinary circumstances" or in instances when death, extreme bodily harm or significant property damage result, according to a new Department of Justice memo issued Friday and obtained by CBS News.
The directive, written by the chief of staff to the attorney general, Chad Mizelle, focused on the Justice Department's application of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ("FACE Act"). The law — passed in 1994 — makes it illegal to harm, threaten or interfere with an individual "obtaining or providing reproductive health services" or damage a facility "because such facility provides reproductive health." The act extends similar protections to places of worship and to individuals "exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship."
According to the Justice Department memo, future FACE Act violations will mostly be left to state or local law enforcement, with exceptions for federal investigations in cases "presenting significant aggravating factors."
