CV NEWS FEED // Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, called out the Biden administration’s Department of Justice over its failure to prosecute pro-abortion attacks on pregnancy resource centers and its decision to instead go after the pro-life movement.
The day after Lauren Handy and four other non-violent pro-life activists were found guilty of breaking the Clinton-era Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, Cruz took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to highlight the vast discrepancy between how the DOJ treats them and violent pro-abortion activists.
“At least 88 crisis pregnancy centers have been firebombed, vandalized, or set ablaze in the wake of the Dobbs decision. DOJ’s response to this violence has been anemic, having only prosecuted one FACE Act case against these criminals,” Cruz wrote.
>> TRACKER: ATTACKS ON PREGNANCY CENTERS & PRO-LIFE GROUPS <<
“However, and in stark contrast,” Cruz continued, “the DOJ has brought the entire weight and force of the FBI against those who engage in non-violent protest at abortion clinics.” He referred to the convictions of Handy and her co-defendants.
As The Daily Wire reported, the defendants, who range in age from 25 to 67, “face 11 years behind bars” as well as “a $350,000 fine” each “and were thrown in jail to await their sentences.”
Cruz noted that “the DOJ has been aggressively targeting Handy since she and others blew the whistle on [Cesare Santangelo,] an abortion doctor in Washington D.C. who was engaging in illegal, late-term abortions.”
As CatholicVote reported in February, Santangelo “was nicknamed ‘The Butcher of D.C’ after his practice was found to have killed five viable unborn children” and “has been accused of selling the remains of aborted babies to an energy company.”
CatholicVote recounted Handy and her co-defendants’ case in a report on Tuesday:
On October 22, 2020, Handy arrived at Santangelo’s clinic for an appointment, posing as an expectant mother. The other defendants filed in after her, locked arms, and blocked the staff’s entrance to the clinic. Others moved couches and chairs, sitting down and blocking other key doors.
Soon, the police arrived and attempted to escort the pro-life advocates off the premises. As the police attempted to remove them, the advocates prayed and protested, with one, Jonathan Darnel, saying, “As long as they’re in there, no woman can go in to kill their children. We shall delay the murder of kids as long as we can in this building,” according to the Facebook Live video documenting the incident.
The ten protestors were soon indicted for their participation.
The pro-life protestors were indicted and eventually convicted “on charges related to the FACE Act,” which “is a 1994 law that makes it illegal for protestors to block women from entering an abortion clinic.”
“The FACE Act was also crafted to protect churches from vandalism and protestors blocking the entrance to houses of worship,” CatholicVote added. “However, the Department of Justice has never prosecuted church vandals using the FACE Act.”
Cruz concluded by stating: “When you compare how aggressively DOJ treats pro-life protestors like Lauren Handy and Mark Houck versus the hand-off approach it takes to those who vandalize churches and pregnancy centers, it’s obvious that [Attorney General Merrick] Garland has politicized our justice system. He should resign.”