User:Emily J. L./Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act

Prohibited
§ 248. Freedom of access to clinic entrances: (a) Prohibited activities.--Whoever-- (1) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services

The following behaviors have especially to do with reproductive health care clinics but can also be applied to places of worship:


 * Blocking a person’s access to the entrance of a facility
 * Impairing cars from entering and/or exiting a facility
 * Physically stopping people as they are trying to walk toward an entrance or through a parking lot
 * Making it difficult or dangerous to get in and/or out of a facility
 * Trespassing on the property of a facility
 * Committing any act of violence on a clinic employee, escort or patient
 * Vandalism
 * Threats of violence
 * Stalking a clinic employee or reproductive health care provider
 * Arson or threats of arson
 * Bombings or bomb threats
 * Intimidation

Not prohibited
The following behaviors are not prohibited because they are protected under the First Amendment right to free speech:


 * Protesting outside of clinics
 * Distributing literature
 * Carrying signs
 * Shouting (as long as no threats are made)
 * Singing hymns
 * Counseling

Penalties for Violation
The criminal penalties for violating FACE vary according to the severity of the offense and the defendant's prior record of similar violations. Typically, a first time offender is sentenced to at most one year in prison and fined at most $100,000. For a second violation, the violator may be imprisoned for at most three years and fined at most $250,000. However, a strictly non-violent offense is punishable with up to six months in prison and up to $10,000 in fines for a first offense, and up to 18 months in prison and up to $25,000 in fines for subsequent offenses. These are maximum sentences; lesser penalties are permitted at the judge's discretion.

If the offense causes injury to a person, the maximum sentence is 10 years, regardless of whether or not it is a first offense, and any offense that results in death is punishable with up to life in prison.

Rationale for the Act
The Act was passed in direct response to the escalation of violent tactics used by anti-abortion activists as well as escalating protest culminated in the "Spring of Life" at Buffalo Abortion Clinics, on April 1992.

Between the years 1978 and 1993, the number of violent crimes committed against reproductive health care providers, reproductive health care facilities and abortion clinics were steadily on the rise. According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization of abortion providers, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, there have been at least 9 murders, 17 attempted murders, 406 death threats, 179 incidents of assault or battery, and 5 kidnappings committed against abortion providers. In addition, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, property crimes committed against abortion providers have included 41 bombings, 175 arsons, 96 attempted bombings or arsons, 692 bomb threats, 1993 incidents of trespassing, 1400 incidents of vandalism, and 100 attacks with butyric acid ("stink bombs"). In April 1992, thousands of "prayer warriors" and pro-life protesters met at the entrances of Buffalo Abortion Clinics for a planned month of picketing and blockades, trying to dissuade women from ending their pregnancies. After seven days of protests, involving Operation Rescue, over 400 protesters were arrested. One anti-abortion group known as the Army of God, was especially active in committing these violent crimes. This group alone was responsible for bombing and setting fire to over one hundred clinics before 1994. They also invaded more than three hundred clinics and vandalized more than four hundred In 1993, officials found the Army of God Manual, a tactical guide to arson, chemical attacks, invasions and bombing, buried in the backyard of Shelly Shannon’s home. Shelly Shannon was soon found guilty of the attempted murder of Dr. George Tiller that same year. In addition to committing acts of violence, some anti-abortion activists were known to stalk medical personnel and use their photographs on "Wanted for Murder" posters. This on-going violence reached its peak in March 1993 when Dr. David Gunn, a physician whose medical practice included abortion procedures, was shot and killed by Michael F. Griffin outside of the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic located in Pensacola, Florida This increase in violence had become very burdensome to local law enforcement, and according to some, local policiing of the issue was often lax. The House and Senate decided that such unlawful conduct was interfering with the constitutional right of women to receive reproductive health care services (abortion in particular), which has been guaranteed since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Additionally, the FACE Act was intended to overturn the decision in Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic. In this case, the Supreme Court said in a 6-3 decision that the Ku Klux Klan Act, originally enacted to protect African Americans trying to vote, could not be applied in the case of abortion clinic entrances because, according to the majority opinion, blockading abortion clinic entrances was not discriminating against women. Then-Representative Chuck Schumer introduced the FACE Act in order to effectively reverse the decision in Bray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic.

Legislative History
The FACE Act was originally introduced in January 1993 and chiefly sponsored by then-Representative Chuck Schumer (D--NY), with then-Representative Constance Morella (R--MD) as the chief co-sponsor. A version of the bill was also introduced in the Senate around the same time, this one sponsored by then-Senator Edward Kennedy (D--MA). The House approved the bill in November 1993, only a couple days after the Senate approved its version. A joint committee between the House and Senate combined the two bills shortly after, and then-President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law which went into effect in May 1994.

Judicial Review
In 1995, American Life League attempted to challenge the FACE Act in The Untied States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a case called American Life League, Inc. v. Reno. American Life League made the argument that the Act violated the right to freedom of religious expression. The court rejected this, because the Act did not restrict prayer or any other religious observance, only blocking, threats, and violence. The plaintiffs also made three arguments saying that the FACE Act violated the right to free speech. The first was that the Act prohibited harm against women and providers, which could include psychological harm. Because their free speech could cause psychological harm, the plaintiffs argued that the FACE Act was thus infringing on their free speech. The court, however, rejected this, saying that the only harm that is prohibited that which is caused by violence, threats of violence, and blockages of clinics. The plaintiffs’ second argument was that the Act was too vague, which the court also rejected because there were numerous examples of Constitutional acts that had similar language. Finally, the plaintiffs argued that the Act specifically targeted anti-abortion protestors and was not neutral, to which the court said that the law would be applied to anyone who violated it, so it was neutral. As such, the court upheld the FACE Act.

Following passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, several states passed analogous laws. The Massachusetts act was the Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act, which was challenged in Federal Court and ultimately struck down in McCullen v. Coakley. However, the decision was narrowly tailored so as not to strike down the FACE Act and other state level laws.