Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) spoke with Jenna Ellis on Jenna Ellis in the Morning about the process of trying to get the FACE Act repealed.
“We experienced a significant weaponization of the Department of Justice against the American people throughout the tenure of the Biden administration. That was seen in a significant impact on the pro-life community with the abuse of the FACE Act, which was used to overtly prosecute people who are pro-life,” says Roy.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) was passed during the Clinton administration in 1994. Three actions that the bill declares illegal are:
1) Barring others from reproductive health services.
2) Barring others from places of religious worship as it is their First Amendment right to religious freedom.
3) Purposefully destroying the property of facilities that provide reproductive health services or places that are designated for religious worship.
However, Roy points out that the majority of those convicted from the FACE Act are pro-life advocates.
“The data proved over 30 years that 97% of the prosecutions were against pro-lifers, and they were putting people in jail for long terms, quote, five years,” Roy revealed.
Roy gave several examples of those who have been adversely affected by the FACE Act, Eva Edl and Mark Houck being two of the most prominent cases.
Pro-life advocate Eva Edl is an 89-year-old survivor of a Soviet concentration camp. Because of the FACE Act, she was convicted in 2024 of “blockading the entrance” of Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee during a peaceful protest. While sentenced to three years’ probation, she could have been sentenced to up to six months in prison.
Mark Houck is a father of seven and pro-life advocate that routinely spoke outside of abortion clinics. He faced trial against the U.S. because of the FACE Act for defending his son against a Planned Parenthood escort a year after the altercation occurred.
Houck said the volunteer used abusive language in addressing his son. Houck was accused of shoving the man.
Thankfully, the jury declared Houck “not guilty” with just minutes of deliberation.
The abuse of power seen in the Biden Administration has been reversed since President Donald Trump came into office.
“Again, credit to President Trump because when he first came in he pardoned the individuals who had been prosecuted and targeted under the FACE Act, which was a great thing,” Roy says.
While the goal is to get the Act repealed, others think that the Act can still be useful if it were to be used in the way it was intended.
Roy: Don’t create the tools
Roy, however, disagrees with this.
“I think when you create power, you create tools, you give those tools to a tyrannical state, then they're going to use them against you. I think we need fewer federal laws. I think we need to diminish the size and scope of the federal government and allow local communities and states to enforce the laws,” Roy says.
Some argue that the Trump administration will be able to administer the law correctly, but Roy refuses to allow this tool to potentially reach the hands of a Democratic administration.
“Let's get rid of the empowerment of the federal bureaucracy that is being used against the people so that a future administration – which there will be one at some point, a future leftist administration that would be abusive of the laws – we should take that tool away,” Roy states.
Roy believes that there are other statutes and laws in place that can be used to go after people who are committing the same types of crime. Another option is to let the state and local communities take care of those perpetrators as they already have similar laws in place.
“We can always tweak existing laws if we need something to make sure that really bad actors are being targeted,” Roy states.
Now that the bill has passed through the House Judiciary Committee, all that is left is to get the bill through the House floor and the Senate. Roy expects to face opposition as the bill requires seven Democrats to reach a 60-vote majority in the Senate to pass it.
“At a minimum, it will send a very loud signal that people expect these things to be no longer abused and weaponized against the American people,” Roy says.
For now, Roy is patient as the bill moves along.
“Get it out of committee, get it off the floor, get it over to the Senate. Those are the goals.”
