February 22, 2023 4:11pm EST
Justice Department indicts eight abortion clinic protesters for FACE Act violations
DOJ has faced heavy scrutiny from GOP lawmakers and conservative activists for their FACE Act prosecutions
By Brianna Herlihy | Fox News
The Justice Department on Wednesday indicted eight people under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or the FACE Act, for an incident that took place outside an abortion clinic in Michigan in 2020, adding to the growing list of the DOJ’s prosecutions of abortion clinic protesters.
According to court documents, the eight defendants were charged with "engaging in a civil rights conspiracy" and with violating the FACE Act by blocking the entrance of the Northland Family Planning Clinic, which offers abortion procedures, in Sterling Heights, Michigan, in August 2020.
The FACE Act makes it a federal crime to use or threaten to use force to "injure, intimidate or interfere" with a person seeking reproductive health services. Convictions of FACE Act violations carry up to 11 years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines.
The indictment alleges that one of the people charged advertised the Sterling Heights clinic "blockade" on social media and livestreamed the incident.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-department-indicts-eight-abortion-clinic-protesters-face-act-violations
