So far in recent weeks, the federal government has arrested 12 pro-lifers, accusing them of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits interference with any person who is obtaining an abortion or any person who is exercising their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
Last Friday, 26-year-old Herb Geraghty of Rehumanize International became the 12th to be indicted and arrested for his peaceful pro-life work. He says the Biden administration has "made it clear that in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and unborn babies getting some semblance of justice in this country … the only thing they feel they can do is target peaceful pro-life activists."
Jim Harden of the Buffalo, New York CompassCare Pregnancy Services tells AFN an additional 10 have been indicted.
"Now you've got Ted Cruz (R-TX) and 39 other congressmen and senators signing an open letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding to know why they're abdicating their duty to protect pro-life organizations and people and for taking it further – attacking, literally, peaceful pro-life leaders," Harden relays.
He says the Department of Justice is using its own investigators while calling on the FBI to make the arrests, often using SWAT teams. And regardless of whether a person supports life or abortion, Geraghty, a secular pro-lifer who bases his position on science, thinks everyone should be concerned about the tactics the government is using to silence people with a different view.
"But particularly for those of us who deeply oppose the extreme violence of legal abortion, we should really pay attention to this and stand with the defendants in all of these cases," he says. "We're talking about peaceful activists and pro-life leaders who are being targeted for this position that unborn human beings deserve a right to life."
"What they're doing right now is criminal conspiracy, and I think they need to be indicting Christopher Wray," Harden submits. "They need to be indicting Merrick Garland; they need to be indicting Joe Biden and VP Harris and Elizabeth Warren and all these people that are colluding and conspiring to deprive citizens of their rights. It is against the law and needs to stop, and we need to start getting some arrests."
Meanwhile, at least 150 actual FACE Act violations – attacks against pro-life churches and pregnancy help centers that have been reported this year – continue to be ignored. In his case, Harden says the FBI promised to investigate, but after several months, there have been no arrests.
The FACE Act also prohibits the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive healthcare facility or a place of worship.
