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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Biden administration Attorney General Merrick Garland announced yesterday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is “urgently” working to combat a Texas law that took effect last week banning nearly all abortions in the Lone Star state.
In a statement on Monday, Garland said the DOJ is “urgently explor[ing] all options to challenge” the Texas Heartbeat Act, which prohibits abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy. Garland added that the Justice Department “will continue to protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services” through “criminal and civil enforcement of the FACE Act.”
The 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, outlaws physical obstruction or force “to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person” seeking to commit or procure an abortion at an abortion center. Penalties include imprisonment and fines of up to $25,000. Joe Biden voted in favor of the law as a U.S. Senator, as did current Senate minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
Garland did not explain how or whether the DOJ will seek to use the FACE Act to fight Texas’ new heartbeat law. The pro-life legislation is enforced with private lawsuits brought against individuals involved in abortions of babies with detectable heartbeats.
The Justice Department has not offered any more specific details regarding the Biden administration’s plans to sabotage the Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as S.B. 8, though Garland noted in his statement yesterday that the DOJ has “reached out to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and FBI field offices in Texas and across the country to discuss our enforcement authorities.”
“The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,” Garland continued. He did not point to any reports of recent threats directed at abortion facilities in Texas.
Pro-lifers, in fact, have faced increased threats of violence in Texas in the past week, including threats referencing addresses and other personal information of pro-life advocates. Texas Right to Life personnel currently face “hundreds” of threats each day, vice president Elizabeth Graham said Tuesday.
During a White House press conference last Friday, Joe Biden told reporters that he asked the Justice Department to investigate how the federal government could “limit” S.B. 8.
“I was told that there are possibilities within the existing law to have the Justice Department look and see whether or not there are things that can be done that can limit the independent action of individuals enforcing a state law,” he said.
Biden had promised a “whole-of-government effort” against the law the previous day and announced that he had directed both the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to look into “legal tools” and “steps the Federal Government can take.”
The Supreme Court last week rejected an emergency petition by Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses to block S.B. 8, allowing it to come into force Wednesday. The pro-life state law is the most stringent to take effect in the United States since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion on demand nationwide.
S.B. 8 has already led abortionists across Texas to turn down mothers seeking to kill their unborn babies, while some Planned Parenthood centers have stopped offering abortions entirely, Life News reported. Around 55,000 women aborted their children in Texas last year, according to the state health department.
The Supreme Court’s green-lighting of the Texas Heartbeat Act has prompted renewed calls from congressional Democrats to pack the high court and abolish the Senate filibuster.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, also said last week that the House of Representatives will vote on a bill to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law in the coming days. The measure faces little chance of success in the Senate with the filibuster still in place, however.
Nearly two dozen House Democrats, including “Catholic” congressmen such as Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, sent a letter to Garland on Tuesday urging him “to use the full power of the Department of Justice” against S.B. 8.