Abortion Clinics Boost Security as DOJ Limits Federal Shield Law

Reproductive health centers are preparing for more aggressive threats from anti-abortion protesters as the Trump administration restricts enforcement of a decades-old federal law protecting access to clinics.

President Donald Trump kicked off his second presidential administration by pardoning 23 individuals convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act. The 1994 law prohibits violent and threatening conduct intended to interfere with the delivery or access to reproductive health services.

The next day, the Department of Justice issued a memo saying it would only be advancing FACE Act prosecutions in “cases presenting significant aggravating factors,” such as death or severe property damage.

Abortion providers are implementing strict security measures as they’ve seen more protesters traveling in from out of state over the past few months, with some demonstrators walking into traffic to prevent providers and patients from entering clinic parking lots.

Policy analysts say anti-abortion demonstrators are bolstered by limited FACE Act enforcement and could become more inclined to act violently if they grow impatient with the White House on policy goals such as restricting the abortion-inducing drug mifepristone. The threat of intimidation and violence, analysts say, will put more pressure on providers and patients already navigating a patchwork of state reproductive health laws.

“If Trump continues not to make some kind of move to restrict abortion at the national level, you may see more people who are both aware that there will be no FACE Act charges and angry because they had high hopes,” said Mary Ziegler, a University of California Davis law professor focused on reproductive health-care issues.

Limiting Enforcement

Federal lawmakers developed the FACE Act after a series of large-scale clinic blockades and the murders of abortion providers. Anti-abortion violence dropped by 30% after the law was enacted, according to data compiled by the National Abortion Federation.

The Trump administration, however, argued in a Jan. 24 memo that prosecutions and civil actions under the FACE Act “have been the prototypical example” of “the weaponization of the federal government.”

The memo directed the DOJ to drop three cases filed under the Biden administration related to alleged FACE Act violations, including one against the national organization Citizens for a Pro-Life Society.

The group’s founder and director, Monica Miller, said in an interview that the announcement offered “a certain measure of relief” for her organization. Citizens for a Pro-Life Society is known for its “Red Rose Rescues,” in which individuals enter abortion clinics to talk with patients and hold sit-ins in protest of the procedure.

Miller said “pro-lifers should not be engaging in any kinds of violence,” adding that her group’s demonstrations are “passive and non-violent.”

Katie Glenn Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in an email that previous administrations have ignored violence against anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers when enforcing the FACE Act. In 2022, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said violence against these centers surged in the months after the leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

‘Emboldened’ Protesters

Abortion clinic directors say they are already seeing increased activity from demonstrators intending to stop care in the months since the DOJ issued its memo.

Julie Burkhart, founder and president of Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyo., said her team called local police at least three times in early February over people “deliberately obstructing staff and patients from parking.”

“I definitely took that as a signal that now that they know FACE is not going to be enforced, they are emboldened,” Burkhart said.

Wellspring, the only procedural abortion clinic in Wyoming, was the target of a 2022 arson attack that delayed its opening by almost a year.

Burkhart said the clinic has “strict protocols” to ensure “people who don’t have business at the building are not allowed in the building.”

The same goes for A Preferred Women’s Health Center’s facility in Charlotte, N.C., which has recently seen demonstrations drawing out-of-state protesters, said Calla Hales, its executive director.

“This influx of more zealous protesters from out of state embolden some of our protesters here to act more aggressively and more hostile,” including by “trying to trespass, being more aggressive with walking into traffic and trying to stop patients, cars, and vehicles from getting into property,” Hales said in an interview.

This activity comes as groups have called for stronger action from the Trump administration, including on mifepristone. But Trump has repeatedly argued the issue of abortion should be left to states, and US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said in April that he has no plans to change the federal government’s policy on the drug.

“The more frustrated people in the anti-abortion movement are with the pace of change, the more appeal these kinds of protests will have,” Ziegler said.

State Involvement

Abortion providers are relying on support from state and local law enforcement to help curb demonstrations and threats that can disrupt patient access to care.

Local police departments should be “participating in meetings with providers so that there’s that existing relationship if something does happen,” Burkhart said.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has awarded nonprofit security grants to various health facilities, including CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health.

“All of the costs that we have to spend on security increases what it costs us to operate and stay open,” Jennifer Pepper, president and CEO at CHOICES, said in an April call with reporters.

Such additional state support may not be available in Republican-controlled states like Wyoming, where Burkhart is involved in litigation over laws restricting abortion. But despite their difference of opinion, she said, protesters should refrain from resorting to actions that can harm providers and patients.

“I hope that people could at least respect that we don’t need added violence, harassment, and intimidation in this society,” Burkhart said.