DOJ turns blind eye to attacks on pro-lifers
The Biden administration has been turning a blind eye to domestic terrorists who attack pro-life Americans and centers even as the Department of Justice (DOJ) cracks down on taxpayers who protest abortion.
A feticidal intifada
Pro-abortion groups launched a wave of violence immediately after a draft of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked on May 2, 2022. The court ruled that states, not the federal government, should have the power to permit or prohibit abortions. The ruling effectively overturned Roe v. Wade.
Within 24 hours of the draft being leaked, pro-abortion domestic terror groups like Jane’s Revenge and Ruth Sent Us declared “war” on pro-life Americans. They began attacking pregnancy centers — facilities which help women give birth instead of committing feticide — and demanded that all pro-life groups disband within 30 days. Ruth Sent Us instructed activists to storm Catholic churches during Mass and vowed to”burn the Eucharist.” Jane’s Revenge claimed credit for setting fire to Wisconsin Family Action, a pro-life center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Five arrests for 90 violent attacks
Since then, there have been at least 90 such attacks on pro-life Americans, according to a report by Catholic Vote. These have included firebombings, arson, destruction, and vandalism. Some pregnancy centers had their locks glued so that staff could not enter the premises. Employees at other centers had their cars keyed. In one instance, an 84-year-old woman was shot while distributing pro-life materials. Two elderly men were badly beaten while protesting outside an abortion facility.
There have only been about five reported arrests made in connection with those attacks and the FBI did not issue a public request for information until six months into the wave of violence.
DOJ continues major crackdown on pro-life Americans
In the meantime, the DOJ has launched a frenzied crackdown on pro-life taxpayers.
In one instance, over 15 FBI agents converged on the house of Mark Houck, a pro-life father of seven, in an early morning in September 2021. They pounded on the door with their guns drawn and shouted for him to come out. He was arrested for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a felony “to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone” who provides abortion services. Houck’s wife and children suffered severe trauma from the event.
Last month, 75-year-old Paulette Harlow was sentenced to two years in prison, also for violating the FACE Act, after she participated in a protest at an abortion center in Washington, DC in 2020. After the sentencing, federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly taunted Harlow, who suffers from health issues. The judge told her to “make an effort to remain alive” in prison because that is a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion.”
Harlow was one of 11 others who were recently sentenced to prison for violating the FACE Act by protesting at an abortion center. Harlow’s co-defendant, Lauren Handy, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Last month, the DOJ brought a lawsuit against seven pro-life taxpayers and their organizations, Red Rose Rescue and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society. The complaint accused the defendants of violating the FACE Act.
‘A literal call to arms’
The DOJ’s campaign against pro-lifers has support in Congress from Democrat lawmakers. In September 2022, for instance, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) issued a “literal call to arms” against pro-life Americans.
