{"id":272409,"date":"2022-07-16T13:20:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T18:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=272409"},"modified":"2022-07-14T21:21:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T02:21:00","slug":"doj-reproductive-rights-task-force-abortion-pregnancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doj-reproductive-rights-task-force-abortion-pregnancy\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ ‘reproductive rights task force’ will protect abortion and neglect the safety of pregnancy centers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Justice Department “reproductive rights task force” will protect abortion providers but not pro-life pregnancy centers, though the latter have in recent weeks been repeatedly targeted with violence. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement<\/a>\u00a0claims the ‘task force’ will “identify ways to protect access to reproductive health care,” meaning abortion. The DOJ also claimed its pro-abortion task force will work with “external stakeholders” such as “reproductive services providers” (abortion facilities and Planned Parenthood facilities) as well as “advocates and state attorneys general.”<\/p>\n

Live Action News has\u00a0documented<\/a> multiple acts of violence and threats against pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), churches and pro-life offices credited to the pro-abortion domestic terrorist group Jane’s Revenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No “task force” for targeted pro-life pregnancy centers\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pro-abortion task forces at the DOJ are not new. In fact, the DOJ has maintained a separate and ongoing task force<\/a> to investigate violence against abortion facilities for decades. The National Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Healthcare Providers, put in place during the 1990s, remains active to this day. It serves as “a clearinghouse for information relating to acts of violence against abortion providers” and makes regular\u00a0security recommendations<\/a>\u00a0to “enhance the safety and protection of providers.” A detailed twenty-two page booklet published<\/a> by the FBI gives abortion facilities “practical information and proactive security measures that can be used to reduce risk and prevent violence against personnel and facilities.”<\/p>\n

Yet, while local FBI offices may be involved in some investigations of pro-abortion attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, Live Action News is unaware of any federal<\/em> task force monitoring pro-abortion violence against these centers, or of any FBI published booklet being offered to pro-life groups to “reduce risk and prevent violence against personnel and facilities.”<\/p>\n

Head of DOJ strongly pro-abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n

DOJ’s head Attorney General Merrick Garland is extremely pro-abortion. Garland\u00a0referred<\/a> to the recently overturned Roe v. Wade<\/em> Supreme Court decision as an “established right that has been an essential component of women\u2019s liberty for half a century,” claiming the “Constitution continues to restrict states\u2019 authority to ban reproductive services provided outside their borders.” Garland said that the Justice Department “strongly disagrees” with the Court\u2019s decision, calling it a “devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States” and vowing that the DOJ will “work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom.”<\/p>\n

Garland’s statement supporting abortion mentions the F.A.C.E. Act as a means to “protect healthcare providers and individuals seeking reproductive health” and encourages Congress to “codify” abortion.\u00a0The Federal F.A.C.E. legislation was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1994, after a series of criminal incidents targeting abortion clinics.<\/p>\n

Garland also vowed to protect access to the abortion pill, writing, \u201c[W]e stand ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care. In particular, the FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA\u2019s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.” That alleged FDA safety review<\/a> has been called into question by pro-life groups.<\/p>\n

Bias at DOJ impacting pro-abortion violence investigations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The clear bias at the DOJ is prompting some pro-life groups and media outlets to question whether investigations of pro-abortion violence are rising to the same level of concern as protecting abortion and abortion providers.<\/p>\n

Case in point: the Free Beacon is alleging that pro-abortion bias may be behind the DOJ’s lack of apparent concern in investigating pro-abortion attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches. According to their report<\/a>, DOJ Civil rights division chief, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke oversees investigations of potential F.A.C.E. Act violations, an acronym which stands for Freedom of Clinic Entrances Act.\u00a0The Civil Rights Division is listed as part of the DOJ’s newly formed reproductive rights task force.<\/p>\n

The Free Beacon pointed out that Clarke, along with U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves of the District of Columbia, were the ones who\u00a0issued<\/a> an indictment against a group of pro-life activists<\/a> earlier this year, charging them with violations of the F.A.C.E. Act.<\/p>\n

According to the Free Beacon, Clarke showed her opposition to pro-life pregnancy centers following a Supreme Court ruling in June 2018 that struck down a California requirement that the centers inform patients about state abortion services. The Washington Times then quoted a tweet<\/a> written by Clarke which states in part, “The anti-choice movement will stop at nothing.” Clarke then referred to pro-life pregnancy centers and organizations with the hashtags, “#EndTheLies” and “#ExposeFakeClinics.”<\/p>\n

\"Image:

Office of Civil Rights Kristen Clarke calls pro-life pregnancy centers fake clinics (Image: Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

Clarke has tweeted other such hashtags that include\u00a0#AbortionIsAWomansRight<\/a>\u00a0and has defended<\/a> Planned Parenthood, even thanking<\/a> them for “100 years of work safeguarding reproductive rights and women’s health,” despite being founded by a white supremacist and purveyor of eugenics.<\/p>\n

“The Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights group Clarke led at the time,\u00a0alleged<\/a>\u00a0that crisis pregnancy centers ‘target some of the most vulnerable women in communities today,'” the Free Beacon also reported.<\/p>\n

Reproductive\u00a0rights task force goals<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Justice Department’s pro-abortion task force was praised by Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill-Johnson who said the organization was looking forward “to seeing its work quickly take shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DOJ release<\/a>\u00a0states that the pro-abortion Task Force will monitor and evaluate all state and local legislation and enforcement actions that threaten to:<\/p>\n