President Donald Trump's new Justice Department leadership issued an order Friday to curtail prosecutions against people accused of blocking access to abortion clinics and reproductive health centers, calling the cases an example of the "weaponization" of law enforcement.
Prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or "FACE Act" will now be permitted only in "extraordinary circumstances" or in cases presenting 'significant aggravating factors," attorney general chief of staff Chad Mizelle said in a memo sent to the head of the department's Civil Rights Division.
Mizelle also ordered the immediate dismissal of three FACE Act cases related to 2021 blockades of clinics in Tennessee , Pennsylvania and Ohio .
The memo signals a sharp departure from Justice Department under the Biden administration, which brought cases involving dozens of defendants accused of violating the law. The act prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services, and prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other centers.
The legal group Thomas More Society, which represents many of the defendants, called the move a "huge moment in the fight against FACE."
