DOJ Halts Most Cases for Blocking Abortion and Pregnancy Centers

Federal prosecutors have been directed to cease charging people who block access to pregnancy centers and reproductive health care facilities unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

The Justice Department’s new leadership issued a directive Friday saying that the law allowing such prosecutions has been used as a form of weaponization against pro-life protesters.

Prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, “have been the prototypical example of this weaponization,” according to a memo from the department’s new chief of staff, Chad Mizelle.

The memo also directs the department’s civil rights division to immediately ...