Press Release
·DOJ Report Exposes Biden Administration’s Persecution of Pro-Life Americans
DOJ Report Exposes Biden Administration’s Persecution of Pro-Life Americans
Biden DOJ’s Unprecedented Attack on 1st Amendment Exposed in 800 Page Report
Washington, D.C. – Today, Live Action, one of the nation’s leading human rights organizations, applauds the U.S. Department of Justice report from its Weaponization Working Group detailing how the Biden administration weaponized the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act against pro-life Americans.
Based on a review of over 700,000 internal records, the report indicates that the prior administration:
Collaborated closely with pro-abortion lobbying groups (including Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation) to monitor, track, and target pro-life activists’ protected First Amendment activities, including sharing internal information and using their dossiers for warrants and charges.
Allowed prosecutors to engage in misconduct, such as withholding exculpatory evidence, attempting to exclude religious jurors, and using aggressive arrest tactics. The report also shows the Biden DOJ asking potential jurors whether they read certain publications, such as liveaction.org, potentially to exclude them.
Assisted a pro-abortion group in securing private grant funding.
Imposed significantly harsher sentences on pro-life defendants compared to pro-abortion defendants.
The Trump administration is taking corrective actions, including settlement of civil cases, personnel actions against those responsible, and dismissal of three specific civil lawsuits against pro-life activists. Proactively, there is now a new directive limiting future FACE Act civil actions and prosecutions.
Live Action Founder and President, Lila Rose, released the following comment:
“Today’s Department of Justice report is a devastating indictment of how the Biden administration treated pro-life Americans. This report describes a pattern of federal law enforcement being used to serve the abortion industry's agenda rather than the equal administration of justice. According to the Department’s own findings, Biden’s DOJ gave extraordinary access and influence to abortion organizations, stayed in close contact with groups that were monitoring pro-life activists, relied on information supplied by those groups to identify targets, and at the same time failed to actively prosecute real crime such as violence and vandalism directed at pregnancy resource centers and churches.
This report shows the government tracked the travel, speech, protest activity, and personal information of pro-life Americans engaged in constitutionally protected advocacy. It says prosecutors withheld information that defense counsel had requested, sought to screen jurors based on religious views, made hostile comments about Christian beliefs, and pursued much harsher charges and sentences against peaceful pro life defendants than against pro abortion offenders. No administration should ever use the machinery of the justice system to intimidate citizens for their beliefs.
This should alarm every American. A government that punishes one side more harshly because of its convictions is a government acting against the Constitution. A Justice Department that works hand in hand with the abortion industry while treating peaceful pro-life advocacy as a threat has abandoned its duty to protect the rights of all Americans equally.
The pro-life movement was right to sound the alarm. Now the Department’s own report confirms that these Americans were denied equal justice, targeted for their beliefs, and subjected to a serious abuse of federal power. Every official involved in this weaponization should be fully investigated and held accountable.”
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About Lila Rose and Live Action
Lila Rose founded and serves as president of Live Action. Live Action is a 501(c)3 human rights non-profit and the digital leader of the global pro-life movement. Live Action exists today to shift public opinion against abortion and to defend the rights of the most vulnerable. With over 8.5 million social media followers and 3 billion lifetime video views, Live Action reaches individuals 68 million times per month– saving lives and transforming hearts, with 43% of surveyed followers saying Live Action’s content has changed their position against abortion. Through compelling educational media, human interest storytelling, investigative reporting, and community activism, Live Action reveals the humanity of preborn children and exposes the abortion industry’s exploitation of women and families for profit. Lila is also the author of Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded World.