As parents across the country push back against schools undermining their children’s faith, President Donald Trump will speak at the Museum of the Bible on Monday during a hearing on religious liberty in education, The Daily Wire has learned.
Trump will give remarks during the second meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/donald-trump-to-establish-religious-liberty-commission">established</a> earlier this year to protect the rights of Americans to practice their faith. At the hearing, parents and students will discuss their experience of expressing their faith in the public schools. 
The Trump administration has placed a large emphasis on protecting religious liberties, from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-trump-guidance-allows-federal-employees-to-debate-religion-with-co-workers">issuing new guidance</a> that allows federal workers to be more open about their beliefs, to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj">pardoning</a> pro-life Christians targeted by the Biden administration over peaceful demonstrations at abortion facilities. 
“The previous administration abused the federal government’s power to interfere with Americans’ First Amendment right to religious freedom,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told The Daily Wire. “They even used the Department of Justice to target peaceful people of faith, specifically Christians. This is exactly why President Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission to stop the emerging threats against Americans’ inalienable right to practice their religion freely.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Religious Liberty Commission Chair Dan Patrick will also speak at the hearing. 
The first panel to be heard at the event will be a group of elementary school students “who will share stories of challenges to their religious liberty,” according to the White House. Other panels will feature parents whose rights to raise their kids religiously were “challenged or abridged in the school system,” and students who faced challenges to their faith in higher education.
The goal of the hearing will be to “understand the historic landscape of religious liberty in the public education setting, identify present threats to religious liberty in America’s public school systems, and identify opportunities to secure religious liberty in this context for the future,” the White House told The Daily Wire. 
In May, Trump signed an executive order creating the commission with the task of producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty and the top threats to it in the United States today. 
“President Trump is the greatest defender for people of faith in modern history and will continue to protect and promote America’s founding principle of religious freedom,” Rogers told The Daily Wire. 
Other notable commission members to be in attendance include Ben Carson, Senior Adviser to the White House Faith Office, Paula White, Pastor Franklin Graham, Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and Eric Metaxas. 
The first meeting of the commission took place in June, during which attendees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-religious-liberty-commission-meets-to-discuss-faith-policies">contrasted</a> the Trump administration’s approach to religious liberty with that of former President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he would be making a “big announcement” in about two weeks related to the administration’s goals to protect religious liberty. The administration is also looking to protect churches following an attack on a Catholic school last week in Minneapolis by a transgender-identifying shooter who had a documented hatred of Christians. 
In recent years, the Supreme Court has handed advocates of religious liberty a number of major victories in education, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-affirms-religious-liberty-rules-in-favor-of-public-high-school-football-coach-punished-for-praying-after-games">siding</a> with a high school football coach who was disciplined for leading voluntary prayers after games. More recently, the court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-sides-with-parents-says-schools-cant-mandate-lgbt-curricula">sided</a> with a group of Maryland parents who argued that schools violated their religious beliefs by forcing them to participate in sexually-themed education.

Donald Trump Addresses The Faith And Freedom Road To The Majority Conference

EXCLUSIVE: Trump To Address Threats To Faith At Public Schools

Donald Trump

Education

Parental Rights in Education

Religious Liberty

Trump Administration

White House

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s administration enforces his executive order protecting women’s sports and spaces, several school districts and universities across the nation may soon come under fire for allowing males to compete as women or use female locker rooms. 
Now, a new <a href="https://americanparentscoalition.org/map/">tracking map</a> first obtained by The Daily Wire might offer the administration even more fodder for investigations. 
The interactive map provided by the American Parents Coalition documents instances across the United States where males have been granted access to female spaces, including sports teams, bathrooms, and locker rooms. The incidents tracked range from transgender-identifying males competing on women’s sports teams to young girls being forced to change in front of males at local gyms. 
At least 24 states have failed to maintain female-only spaces, the American Parents Coalition found. Incidents have not only taken place in deep blue states like California and New York, but also GOP-dominated states like Georgia, Missouri, Florida, and Texas. 
&#8220;Gender activists have attempted to normalize radical gender ideology at the expense of biological reality, fairness, and privacy. American parents have dealt with the fallout, seeing boys in their daughters’ sports, locker rooms, and private spaces at schools and also organizations like the YMCA,” Alleigh Marré told The Daily Wire. 
<div id="attachment_964829" style="width: 1761px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-964829" class="size-full wp-image-964829" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM.png" alt="" width="1751" height="1370" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM.png 1751w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM-300x235.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM-736x576.png 736w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM-768x601.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-10.00.42-AM-1536x1202.png 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1751px) 100vw, 1751px" />American Parents Coalition.</div>
The incidents cited by the American Parents Coalition range from college athletics to parents taking their children to the local YMCA. 
One of the incidents in March 2022 from <a href="https://americanparentscoalition.org/state/georgia/">Georgia</a> helped launch a conservative push to keep transgender-identifying males out of women’s sports. The incident in question involved male swimmer Lia Thomas tying for fifth place with Riley Gaines at the 200-meter NCAA Division 1 women’s swimming championships in Atlanta. Thomas was awarded a fifth-place trophy while Gaines was told she would receive one later. 
In another incident included on the interactive map, a parent <a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/nkc-police-investigating-after-report-of-indecent-exposure-at-ymca/">reported</a> that her 7-year-old daughter was exposed to a naked man while at their local YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri. The mother said that the man claimed to be a woman after being questioned about what he was doing in the women’s changing area. 
Other incidents took place in school districts across the country — from California’s Riverside County to Minnesota&#8217;s Hennepin County to Florida’s Broward County — as male athletes identifying as transgender competed against females. 
More incidents will be added to the map, and parents are encouraged to submit tips to the American Parents Coalition if their daughters have been denied privacy or athletic opportunities. 
“Parents&#8217; concerns about the safety and fairness of girls competing against biological males in sports, or forcing girls to shower, change or even share overnight cabins with biological males, are legitimate and must be taken seriously by policymakers,” Marré said. 
Marré added that she hoped that policymakers would use the map as a resource for where to direct their action. 
“Our goal with creating this map is to highlight that this issue is not isolated and is happening nationwide,” she said. “We also hope that this map can be used as a resource for concerned parents and policymakers as we work towards ensuring safety and fairness through the proper protection of girls&#8217; sports and spaces.”
In February, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/">issued an executive order</a> stating that the United States would “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” saying that allowing men in women’s spaces results “in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
“It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth,” that executive order stated. 
Trump’s order was the fulfillment of his campaign promise to get males out of women’s spaces — a promise that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-learned-to-embrace-the-transgender-culture-wars">president quickly gauged</a> the American people were very supportive of.  

Last week, Trump threatened to strip federal funding from California if the state continues to refuse to get on board with his administration&#8217;s transgender policies. That came after the Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-president-means-business-trump-admin-sues-california-over-transgender-athlete-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> California last month for continuing to allow transgender-identifying males to compete in female sports.

Trump Announces Kennedy Center To Host 2026 World Cup Draw

Trump May Target These Schools Next For Allowing Boys in Girls’ Spaces

These Schools Allowing Boys In Girls’ Spaces Could Be Trump’s Next Targets

female sports

gender ideology

Parents rights

Transgender Athletes

WASHINGTON—The State Department is rolling out a &#8220;pro-family&#8221; exemption to the federal hiring freeze for the families of diplomats working abroad, according to an internal memo obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire.
The exemption will allow diplomats to staff key embassy posts with eligible family members, known as EFMs. Eligible family members are often the spouse of the State Department employee assigned to the overseas station, and have traditionally been used to temporarily staff certain positions. 
“This is a commonsense, pro-family policy to keep the family members of our diplomats together as they work toward implementing the America First agenda at our overseas posts,” a senior State Department official told The Daily Wire. 
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating a freeze on hiring new federal employees. At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been overhauling the State Department. As part of this reorganization, the State Department has begun mass layoffs for bureaucratic positions, largely based in Washington, D.C.
The State Department said in the unclassified memo that the exemption would help support families and “support the operational readiness of U.S. Missions&#8221; and that it would be &#8220;a critical step forward in supporting our overseas staffing needs and family member employment opportunities.&#8221;
The memo, which will be sent out later today, authorizes overseas posts to start hiring eligible family members into empty positions that were previously occupied by someone with similar status. The freeze exemption will not allow for new positions to be created and cannot be used to fill vacancies previously filled by non-family member employees. 
“This exemption to the hiring freeze for EFMs makes available a pool of highly qualified candidates who can quickly fill both temporary and long-term positions that support operational readiness,” the memo says. “These will include positions in human resources, finance, security, political/economic, community liaison, medical, and consular services, ensuring that overseas posts function smoothly.”
The memo says that the policy reflects “the Department’s commitment to operational readiness, workforce morale, and the well-being of [Foreign Service] families” and that employees are encouraged to &#8220;prioritize&#8221; the hiring of eligible family members. 
The exemption will also allow eligible family members to join the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps, meaning that they will have an active security clearance allowing them to fill “domestic and overseas positions quickly when needed.”

MALAYSIA-US-ASEAN-DIPLOMACY

EXCLUSIVE: State Department Rolls Out ‘Pro-Family’ Exemption To Hiring Freeze

federal workforce

Marco Rubio

State Department

Over two dozen Republican attorneys general are defending President Donald Trump&#8217;s moves to keep women from being housed alongside transgender-identifying men in federal prisons.
Led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a group of 26 states filed an amicus brief on Friday in support of Trump&#8217;s executive order requiring prisoners to be housed by sex and halting funds for transgender procedures for prisoners. Trump&#8217;s actions to rid prisons of gender ideology currently sit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after being blocked by lower federal courts.
“Truth matters — and it’s under attack in our culture today,” Labrador told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. “We’re standing up for biological reality, lawful executive authority, and the dignity and safety of women. If government policy or court rulings deny basic truth, it threatens both public trust and the rights of individuals.”
In February, a federal judge blocked the Trump&#8217;s directive to move transgender-identifying male prisoners out of a female prison, arguing that it violates the Eight Amendment&#8217;s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Two other judges have also blocked the order, including provisions ending funding of transgender procedures for prisoners.
Led by Labrador and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, the Republican attorneys general argued Friday that Trump&#8217;s actions to keep men out of women&#8217;s prisons are not bound by the Eighth Amendment.
&#8220;The federal government is charged with preserving the safety of all prisoners in its care, and it has determined that placing transgender-identifying male prisoners in female housing intolerably jeopardizes female prisoners’ well-being,&#8221; they wrote in their legal brief. &#8220;So far as the Eighth Amendment is concerned,  the federal government is free to decide, as it has, that the best and safest solution is to house trans-identifying male prisoners with non-violent male offenders.&#8221;
The Republican officials also noted that there is a great danger that could be posed to women who are forced to shower and bunk alongside males.
&#8220;Housing transgender-identifying males with female prisoners presents its own set of risks. Those risks inure to the harm of female inmates, who  (1) have their rights to privacy and dignity compromised by having to sleep and shower with men, (2) are exposed to elevated possibilities of violence or sexual assault, and (3) will be pressured or coerced into using speech reflecting a belief that conflicts with  biological reality,&#8221; they wrote. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-trump-youth-prisons-transgender-house-young-girls?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Despite+Trump+Orders%2C+Juvenile+Prisons+Still+Have+To+House+‘Trans’+Men+With+Young+Girls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Despite Trump Orders, Juvenile Prisons Still Have To House ‘Trans’ Men With Young Girls</a>
They also argue that the Trump administration should be allowed to deny transgender procedures to prisoners because of the well-documented risks of gender medical interventions.
&#8220;Politically accountable policy makers are better positioned and constitutionally  empowered to decide if, when, and how those treatments should be administered, and the need for deference to the politically accountable branches is particularly high in light  of the medical uncertainty regarding the treatments’ efficacy,&#8221; they wrote. 
<div id="attachment_923535" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-923535" class="size-full wp-image-923535" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2149418788.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador speaks outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court hears oral arguments today on Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States to decide if Idaho emergency rooms can provide abortions to pregnant women during an emergency using a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act to supersede a state law that criminalizes most abortions in Idaho." width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2149418788.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2149418788-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2149418788-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2149418788-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Labrador at the Supreme Court/ Credit: Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.</div>
The brief was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.
Risks to women being housed alongside males are not abstract and are currently the subject of multiple lawsuits across the country. A California man named Tremaine Carrol faces multiple rape charges after he was housed in a woman&#8217;s facility. In Washington, former prisoner Mozzy Clark has sued the state saying it subjected her to multiple sexual assaults because they housed a man in her cell.
The issue is not isolated to the adult prisons as Obama-era regulations states could be required to house boys in all-girl youth prisons as well. As The Daily Wire previously reported, states must consider housing a juvenile male who identifies as a female at a women&#8217;s facility on a case by case basis or risk the loss of federal funding.

Criminal wearing handcuffs in prison

Republican AGs Blast Federal Judges For Keeping Men In Women’s Prisons

Courts

Idaho

Prison

Transgender

WASHINGTON — Conservative and pro-life groups are calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate reports that pro-life activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department were neglected, while trans-identifying prisoners were given special treatment.
In a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire, the coalition highlighted former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany&#8217;s interview with the pro-life prisoners, who Donald Trump pardoned on his fourth day in office. William Goodman, one of the prisoners, alleged to McEnany that he was mistreated while in prison on Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act charges brought by the Biden Justice Department.
&#8220;William Goodman, unjustly sentenced to 27 months in prison, alleges that he was kept in a condemned unit and suffered from neglect while in prison, going two weeks without toilet paper,&#8221; reads the letter, led by Advancing American Freedom&#8217;s Paul Teller. &#8220;Meanwhile, Mr. Goodman alleges that other prisoners, suffering from gender dysphoria, were provided with dresses, mascara, lipstick, and perfume, as requested.&#8221;
&#8220;While Mr. Goodman’s allegations are shocking, they are not unsurprising given the Biden Administration&#8217;s gross mistreatment of pro-life Americans,&#8221; the letter continues. &#8220;We request that you conduct a full investigation into these, and other allegations of mistreatment made by FACE Act prisoners.&#8221;
CatholicVote, Live Action founder Lila Rose, Students for Life, and Liberty Counsel also signed onto the missive, sent Friday to Bondi.
<div id="attachment_872535" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=872535" rel="attachment wp-att-872535"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-872535" class="wp-image-872535 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2197231132-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;We went over two weeks without toilet paper,&#8221; Goodman <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pardoned-trump-pro-life-activists-break-silence-after-being-sentenced-prison-during-biden-admin">told McEnany in the interview</a>. &#8220;And some of the guys mentioned that some of the men who were there with gender dysphoria, wearing dresses, could get mascara, lipstick, and perfume — but we couldn’t even get toilet paper or basic needs. So there was a lot of neglect.&#8221;
Last year, Goodman suffered a serious head injury while he was imprisoned in Danbury, Connecticut’s Federal Correctional Institution. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-activist-targeted-by-biden-doj-suffers-serious-head-injury-in-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire that he fell off the top bunk in his cell, which did not have guard rails, and landed on his head.
After a trip to the emergency room where he found out he had fractured his skull, he said that he was sent back to prison overnight even though he said he was still feeling severely dizzy and nauseous. Goodman said that he was only given Tylenol and some anti-nausea medication.
“I just feel dizzy and abandoned and sore and sick. But it could be worse…mostly I stay in bed and drink water and take meds and try to sleep,&#8221; Goodman said. &#8220;But I can’t sleep. It is like a cruel torture. My left side of my head is like a constant migraine that seems to bang all night. Plus the loud prison noise and bright lights add to the turmoil. And the uncomfortable beds and no pillow.”
Heather Idoni, another former pro-life prisoner freed by Trump, also said that she was mistreated by federal agents during her time in custody. Idoni, 60, was convicted in three FACE Act cases across the country, including one in Washington, D.C., for which she was sentenced to two years in prison.
When she was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/59-year-old-grandma-in-prison-over-pro-life-protest-says-she-just-wants-to-hold-my-new-grandson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> in Nashville over a peaceful sit-in at a Tennessee abortion facility, she said the U.S. Marshals who had been bussing her from prison to prison had treated her cruelly. In one instance, Idoni said that some marshals had put chains so tight around her waist that she struggled to breathe when she sat down, and that one marshal told her she would tighten it more if she complained again.
During her time in federal custody, Idoni had three stents put into her heart, which was complicated by the fact that she was ferried around to at least eight different prisons.
The treatment of the imprisoned pro-lifers has already received <a href="https://chrissmith.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2024-05-16_-_member_letter_on_healthcare_for_marshall_and_idoni.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrutiny</a> from federal lawmakers, including Republicans in the House Pro-Life Caucus. Led by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Andy Harris (R-MD). They wrote to the U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding answers on the treatment of Idoni and Jean Marshall, 77, who was also imprisoned over the D.C. protest.
Marshall was reportedly denied hip surgery, despite increasing pain in her right leg and difficulty in walking.
Lawmakers also hope to probe whether the Justice Department and FBI violated the First Amendment rights of pro-life protests. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-chip-roy-demands-fbi-doj-retain-records-of-pro-life-prosecutions-as-biden-leaves-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly demanded</a> that the two entities keep all records of the prosecutions.

Pam Bondi Sworn In As Attorney General

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Orgs Ask Bondi To Investigate Neglect Of Pro-Lifers Imprisoned By Biden

Abortion

Department of Justice

FACE Act

Joe Biden

Pam Bondi

Pro-Life Movement

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday pardoning 23 of the pro-life activists targeted by President Joe Biden&#8217;s Justice Department.
&#8220;They should not have been prosecuted,&#8221; Trump said as he signed the order. &#8220;Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this.&#8221;
The pardons are for 23 &#8220;peaceful pro-life protesters who were prosecuted by the Biden administration for exercising their First Amendment rights.&#8221; They were prosecuted under the FACE Act and a Reconstruction-era felony conspiracy charge first used for the first time against pro-life activists by the Biden administration.
The Thomas More Society, the law firm representing the activists, had asked Trump to pardon 21 pro-lifers: Joan Bell, Coleman Boyd, Joel Curry, Jonathan Darnel, Eva Edl, Chester Gallagher, William Goodman, Dennis Green, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, Jean Marshall, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, Justin Phillips, Paul Place, Paul Vaughn, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, Calvin Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and James Zastrow. 
<div id="attachment_864637" style="width: 877px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj/us-politics-trump-134" rel="attachment wp-att-864637"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-864637" class="wp-image-864637 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-867x576.jpg" alt="" width="867" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-867x576.jpg 867w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-768x510.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194910761-2048x1360.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px" /></a>(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
“Today, freedom rings in our great nation,&#8221; said Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. &#8220;The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden’s Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal, and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place.&#8221;
Peter Breen, the executive vice president of the firm, added: &#8220;Today is a new day for the pardoned pro-life advocates who have suffered FBI raids, federal prosecutions, and severe punishment for peacefully and courageously witnessing for life. We thank President Trump for keeping his promise to these pro-life mothers, fathers, grandparents, pastors, and priests.&#8221; 
&#8220;What happened to these peaceful pro-life individuals must never happen again,&#8221; he said in a statement. &#8220;We urge Congress to act swiftly in repealing the FACE Act to make sure that the Justice Department can never again weaponize this law to target peaceful pro-lifers with severe charges.” 
Many of those pardoned were convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Manhattan, and Detroit. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers were already serving lengthy prison sentences. 
In D.C., a group of pro-life protesters sang songs, prayed, locked arms in front of the facility’s staff entrance, and attached themselves with ropes and chains to block doors inside the infamous Surgi-Clinic in October 2020, a late-term abortion facility. 
Those who were imprisoned over the D.C. protest include Lauren Handy (57 months in prison), John Hinshaw (21 months), William Goodman (27 months), Jonathan Darnell (34 months), Herb Geraghty (27 months), Jean Marshall (24 months), Joan Bell (27 months), Paulette Harlow (24 months), and Heather Idoni (24 months).
In Tennessee, a group of pro-life Christians gathered in a hall outside the Carafem Health Center in Mt. Juliet where they sang hymns, prayed, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021. Calvin Zastrow, 63, is currently serving a six-month prison sentence over the protest and 75-year-old Chester Gallagher was sentenced to 16 months though he has not had to report to prison yet. 
In New York, Bevelyn Beatty Williams was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison after she was convicted of violating the FACE Act after she blocked the entrance to an abortion facility in Manhattan. 
The pardons should also bring relief to those who were awaiting sentencing, including 89-year-old Eva Edl. Edl, who survived a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp, was convicted in both Nashville and Detroit and could have been sentenced to over a decade in prison over her convictions on FACE and a felony conspiracy charge.
When passed in 1994, the FACE Act was supposed to protect both churches and clinics, but the law has almost exclusively been used to prosecute pro-lifers. Data obtained by Roy shows that 97% of FACE Act cases brought by the Justice Department have been against pro-life Americans. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) renewed an effort to repeal the FACE Act this week, pointing out how it has been disproportionately used against pro-lifers. 
The response to the pardons has already been positive with Republican lawmakers and conservative activists praising the decision.
&#8220;President Trump&#8217;s pardon today of pro-life activists unjustly imprisoned under President Biden is a great credit to his legacy,&#8221; CatholicVote&#8217;s Tommy Valentine said. &#8220;We hope he will go a step further in undoing Biden&#8217;s unjust legacy by directing his Department of Justice to evenly enforce the FACE Act, for as long as it is on the books, against violent pro-abortion extremists who have been attacking pregnancy resource centers and churches for years.&#8221;
The news came shortly after the Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-jd-vances-first-speech-as-vice-president-to-be-at-national-march-for-life">reported</a> that Trump would pardon the pro-life activists within a matter of days. The plight of the imprisoned pro-lifers is an immediate priority to Trump’s team, two sources with knowledge of the matter shared with The Daily Wire.
Friday is the 52nd annual March for Life, where Vice President JD Vance will publicly speak for the first time since he was sworn into office, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-jd-vances-first-speech-as-vice-president-to-be-at-national-march-for-life">first reported on Thursday</a>.
This is a breaking story; please refresh this page for updates.

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‘They Should Not Have Been Prosecuted’: Trump Pardons 23 Pro-Lifers Targeted By Biden DOJ

Biden Administration

President Donald Trump will pardon pro-life activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department within days, The Daily Wire has learned.
The plight of the imprisoned pro-lifers is an immediate priority to Trump&#8217;s team, and they will likely be pardoned within days, two sources with knowledge of the matter shared with The Daily Wire. The revelation comes a day ahead of the 52nd annual March for Life, a massive peaceful demonstration that takes place in Washington D.C. to bring awareness to the many babies whose lived are ended through abortions. The president is expected to appear at the rally in a pre-recorded video.
Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Monday that granted full pardons for about 1,500 criminal defendants related to the January 6 Capitol Riot, making good on a campaign promises to free those targeted by the Biden administration. His actions prompted many in the pro-life community to hope that he would similarly pardon the pro-life activists targeted by the Biden Justice Department under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
“I hope President Trump will shortly pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration,&#8221; Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley posted to &#8220;X&#8221; on Wednesday. &#8220;They deserve to be free.&#8221;
On Thursday, The Daily Signal <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/01/23/exclusive-mike-lee-to-introduce-bill-to-repeal-law-weaponized-against-pro-lifers/">first reported</a> that Republican Utah Sen, Mike Lee had re-introduced a bill that would repeal the FACE Act once and for all.
“While President [Donald] Trump is stopping these outrageous prosecutions, we should ensure that no future administration has the ability to persecute Americans through unequal application of the law,&#8221; Lee told the publication.
<div id="attachment_864015" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-pardon-imprisoned-pro-life-activists-within-days/inauguration-of-donald-trump-as-47th-president-of-the-united-states-8" rel="attachment wp-att-864015"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-864015" class="wp-image-864015 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194314871-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</div>
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas introduced a companion bill in the House on Tuesday, saying Republicans needed to take advantage of their control of Congress and the White House.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Biden DOJ for targeting pro-lifers on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.”
The pardons would bring immediate relief to those currently imprisoned including Lauren Handy (57 months in prison), John Hinshaw (21 months), Jonathan Darnell (34 months), Herb Geraghty (27 months), Jean Marshall (24 months), Joan Bell (27 months), Paulette Harlow (24 months), Bevelyn Williams (41 months), Heather Idoni (24 months), and Calvin Zastrow (6 months).
These defendants were imprisoned over protests at abortion facilities in Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and New York.
The D.C. protest involved a group of pro-life protesters singing songs, praying, locking arms in front of the facility’s staff entrance, and attaching themselves with ropes and chains to block doors inside the infamous Surgi-Clinic in October 2020, a late term abortion facility. In Tennessee, a group of pro-life Christians gathered in a hall outside the Carafem Health Center in Mt. Juliet where they sang hymns, prayed, and urged women not to get abortion in March 2021.
Many of the defendants have already been imprisoned for over a year with many more months yet to serve.
“I would love to be home with my family,” 59-year-old Heather Idoni said in September. “I would love to hold my new grandson.”
Idoni was sentenced to two years in prison over the D.C. protest and was given another eight months to serve concurrently from the Nashville protest.
The pardons would also bring relief to those awaiting sentencing, including 89-year-old Eva Edl. Edl, who survived a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp, was convicted in Detroit and could be sentenced to over a decade in prison over her conviction on FACE and a felony conspiracy charge.
The Thomas More Society, which represented many of the defendants during their federal trials, formally petitioned for the pardons last week, and urged Trump on Wednesday to issue the pardons. Wednesday is the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2022 largely thanks to votes from Trump appointees.
“Today would be an incredible day for him to do that,” Breen told The Daily Wire on Wednesday morning, discussing possible pardons.

The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President

President Trump To Pardon Imprisoned Pro-Life Activists Within Days

Members of the pro-life community are anxiously awaiting word that President Donald Trump will pardon the activists imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department for trying to prevent abortions.
Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Monday that granted full pardons for about 1,500 criminal defendants related to the January 6 Capitol Riot, making good on many campaign promises to free those targeted by the Biden DOJ. 
He has also repeatedly criticized the Biden Justice Department for targeting pro-lifers on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.”
The Thomas More Society, which represented many of the defendants during their federal trials, formally petitioned for the pardons last week, and urged Trump on Wednesday to issue the pardons. Wednesday is the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2022 largely thanks to votes from Trump appointees.
Both Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Peter Breen and lawyer Steve Crampton told The Daily Wire that this Roe anniversary would be a great day for Trump to issue the pardons. 
&#8220;Today would be an incredible day for him to do that,” Breen told The Daily Wire on Wednesday morning, discussing possible pardons. 
The law firm posted on X, formerly Twitter, calling on Trump to keep his promise, writing: “During your victorious campaign, you pledged to restore justice to the pro-life political targets of Biden’s DOJ. On today’s anniversary of Roe v. Wade, please keep your promise to these peaceful pro-lifers.”
Paul Vaughn, one of the pro-lifers targeted by the Biden Justice Department, seconded this sentiment in his own social media posts.
&#8220;Amen. Today is as good a day as any,&#8221; he wrote to Trump. &#8220;The Pro-lifers could eat dinner with their families tonight instead of yet another prison meal.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Amen. Today is as good a day as any. <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> The Pro-lifers could eat dinner with their families tonight instead of yet another prison meal.<a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DailySignal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailySignal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TCNetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TCNetwork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TuckerCarlson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LilaGraceRose?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LilaGraceRose</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GRTL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GRTL</a><a href="https://twitter.com/ClevelandRTL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ClevelandRTL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MiaCathell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MiaCathell</a> <a href="https://t.co/wycOjl7ZO8">https://t.co/wycOjl7ZO8</a>
&mdash; Paul TN (@vaughnshire) <a href="https://twitter.com/vaughnshire/status/1882132372885512557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he hoped that Trump would free the prisoners, whose sentences range from six to 57 months.  
“I hope President Trump will shortly pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration. They deserve to be free,” Hawley posted on X. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I hope President Trump will shorty pardon the pro-life prisoners unjustly targeted &amp; jailed by the Biden Administration. They deserve to be free
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1881856067669491993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
The Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) also called on Trump to pardon Lauren Handy, its director of activism, who is currently serving a 57-month sentence over a protest at a notorious late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C. She won’t be free until July 2027. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Prolife activist Lauren Handy has been in prison for 17 months. Months ago she sustained an ankle injury and still hasn’t healed. Some days she can’t walk from the pain. She must be pardoned to return home and heal. Her 57 month sentence is too long.
— PAAU (@PAAUNOW) <a href="https://twitter.com/PAAUNOW/status/1881817919392502227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
“Prolife activist Lauren Handy has been in prison for 17 months. Months ago she sustained an ankle injury and still hasn’t healed,” the organization said. “Some days she can’t walk from the pain. She must be pardoned to return home and heal. Her 57 month sentence is too long.” 
In addition to Handy, the group urged for all 20 other defendants successfully prosecuted under Biden to be pardoned and freed. 
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Matt Walsh repeatedly pushed for the pro-lifers to be pardoned, saying on Wednesday: “They are political prisoners who should not spend one more moment in jail under a Trump Administration. I pray that their pardons are coming immediately.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
They are political prisoners who should not spend one more moment in jail under a Trump Administration. I pray that their pardons are coming immediately. <a href="https://t.co/tVA2Ni7JPk">https://t.co/tVA2Ni7JPk</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1882135057902739643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Chip Roy (TX) introduced a measure alongside 20 House Republicans to repeal the FACE Act, pointing out its disproportionate use against pro-life activists, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/roy-introduces-bill-to-repeal-law-used-to-imprison-pro-life-activists">reported</a>. 
“Now that we have a Republican trifecta in the House, Senate, and White House, Congress should move quickly to repeal this law and ensure that no future president can weaponize it against pro-lifers ever again,” Roy said. “No more excuses, let’s get it done.”

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Pro-Life Community Anxiously Awaits Trump Pardons For Imprisoned Activists

Josh Hawley

Pro-life Americans “unjustly imprisoned” by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department are formally appealing to Donald Trump for pardons. 
The Daily Wire is first reporting the petitions for pardons of the 21 pro-life advocates, sent Wednesday to Trump by the Thomas More Society, the pro-life law firm that represents the defendants. 
“These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest—all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the Thomas More Society lawyers wrote. “Their respective plights and personal information are provided in attachments to this letter. We respectfully urge that all 21 of them detailed here are richly deserving of full and unconditional pardons.” 
Trump has criticized the Biden Justice Department for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defend-our-country-imprisoned-pro-life-activists-urge-americans-to-vote-against-kamala">targeting pro-lifers</a> on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.” The Daily Wire has spoken to some of the pro-life prisoners, and many of them have hopefully mentioned this promise in eager anticipation of Trump&#8217;s inauguration. 
<div id="attachment_858899" style="width: 780px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-21-pro-life-defendants-targeted-by-biden-doj-ask-trump-to-pardon-them/anti-abortion-activists-demonstrate-in-d-c-during-annual-march-for-life" rel="attachment wp-att-858899"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858899" class="wp-image-858899 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg 770w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-768x574.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-2048x1532.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /></a>(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)</div>
The pro-lifers requesting pardons are Paul Vaughn, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Eva Edl, James Zastrow, Paul Place, Heather Idoni, Eva Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Calvin Zastrow, Joel Curry, Justin Philips, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, Joan Bell, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Jonathan Darnel, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, and Bevelyn Beatty Williams.
“These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities,” argued Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Through full and unconditional pardons for these pro-life advocates, President Trump has the chance to remedy the harm done to them and their families, deliver on his campaign promises, and repair trust in our constitutional order.”
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Since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Justice Department has <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/12/doj-official-admits-targeting-pro-lifers-is-response-to-overturn-of-roe/">aggressively targeted</a> pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law protecting abortion clinics under which pro-life activists can be charged for blocking or inhibiting a woman from getting an abortion.
The FACE Act also protects <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">Catholic Churches</a>, but Biden’s Justice Department has never used it to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking Catholic churches. 
The Justice Department only used FACE on a handful of occasions to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking pregnancy centers — though <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">more than 95 pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">more than 300 churches have been attacked</a> since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating Roe would soon be overturned. 
<h3>The Cases</h3>
Many of those seeking pardons have been convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, and Detroit — trials that The Daily Wire&#8217;s Leif Le Mahieu has covered on the ground. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers are already serving lengthy prison sentences. 
In May 2024, Lauren Handy was <a href="https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/news/peaceful-pro-life-advocate-lauren-handy-faces-miscarriage-of-justice-sentenced-to-57-months-in-prison">given</a> 57 months in prison for her participation after she helped stage a sit-in at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility. She is currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee and won’t be free until July 2027. 
One of Handy’s co-defendants, 59-year-old Heather Idoni, is serving a two-year prison sentence over a D.C. protest and eight months over a peaceful protest at a Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, abortion facility. 
“I would love to be home with my family,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/59-year-old-grandma-in-prison-over-pro-life-protest-says-she-just-wants-to-hold-my-new-grandson">said</a> during her sentencing in Nashville in September 2024. “I would love to hold my new grandson.”
In Nashville, Idoni joined a group of pro-life Christians who gathered in a hallway outside the Carafem Health Center where they prayed, sang hymns, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021. 
Calvin Zastrow, a 63-year-old pro-lifer from Michigan, is serving a six month sentence in federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, for his conviction over the Mt. Juliet protest.  One of his fellow protesters, 75-year-old Chester Gallagher, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the protest. 
During their trial, it was demonstrated that there was no violence or threats of violence during the Mt. Juliet sit-in, which was broken up by local police. While the judge ended up imposing prison sentences for several defendants, they were shorter than what the Biden administration had requested. 
One of those yet to be sentenced is Eva Edl, an 89-year-old survivor of a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp. She faces over 10 years in prison for her conviction on FACE and felony conspiracy in Detroit. Throughout the trial, Edl said that it was her faith in Jesus and belief that suffering would strengthen her that kept her going. 
Federal Judge Matthew Leitman has paused the case due to Trump’s election, suggesting he believes the incoming administration will pursue a different course on prosecuting FACE. 
<h3>Repealing the FACE Act</h3>
Biden’s disproportionate application of FACE against pro-lifers has come under scrutiny from lawmakers, who say it has been unfairly weaponized. 
In December, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on FACE where Paul Vaughn, one of those convicted in Nashville, testified about the armed FBI raid of his home. 
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
Vaughan told The Daily Wire he was &#8220;hopeful that President Trump will honor his campaign promises and pardon all the pro-life Christians.&#8221;
&#8220;This is especially important for those who have been in jail for over a year at this point. Not only should they be pardoned, they should be rewarded for their sacrifice and dedication to the ideas and values that once made America the freest nation on Earth.&#8221;
Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have consistently proposed repealing the FACE Act, arguing that it has become a one-sided law used to go after conservative Christians. 
“Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/07/exclusive-conservative-leaders-call-jordan-johnson-repeal-face-act/">130 times</a> against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/data-show-there-have-been-22-times-more-attacks-on-pro-lifers-pro-choice-groups-since-supreme-court-leak">22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics</a>,” wrote Roy and Lee in a joint May 2024 op-ed. 
“Just last year, there were <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/436-acts-of-hostility-against-us-churches-documented-in-2023.html">436 incidents</a> of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/topic/congress">Congress</a> with the Justice Department&#8217;s FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.” 
The lawmakers argue that FACE holds “no value other than to allow the Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda,” concluding:  “It&#8217;s time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.”

EXCLUSIVE: 21 Pro-Life Defendants Targeted By Biden DOJ Ask Trump To Pardon Them

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Mary Margaret Olohan and Leif Le Mahieu