Abortion Providers Feel Like 'Sitting Ducks' After Trump Rolls Back Clinic Protections

Yahoo

22-02-2025

Julie Burkhart's career in abortion care started when she was a college student working at a clinic in Wichita, Kansas, during the infamous Summer of Mercy in 1991. Thousands of protesters swarmed the city to rally against abortion clinics — lying on sidewalks to block clinic entrances, throwing their bodies in front of patients' cars and screaming threats at anyone entering the three targeted clinics. Since then, she has lived through the assassination of her former boss and mentor, Dr. George Tiller, death threats on her own life, stalkers and protesters coming to her home and, most recently, the firebombing of her Wyoming abortion clinic.
Still, this moment stands out among the rest, she told HuffPost.
Last month, President Donald Trump limited enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act — a federal law created to safeguard abortion clinics, patients and providers. He dismissed a handful of current ongoing FACE investigations and instructed prosecutors to apply the law only in 'extraordinary circumstances' such as instances of death, extreme bodily harm or significant property damage.
Trump also pardoned 23 people for FACE convictions that ranged from harassing pregnant patients to breaking into clinics and stealing fetal tissue. Several of those pardoned, some of whom were serving prison time, have already said theyplan to return to targeting and invading abortion clinics.
'I got to see up close what not having the FACE Act was like, all of the chaos and disruption,' Burkhart said, referring to the Summer of Mercy, which spurred President Bill Clinton to sign the FACE Act into law three years later. 'It's easy to forget history and why we have certain things in place.'
'If we're not going to have the enforcement of the FACE Act and our federal law enforcement officials will have their hands tied, it makes us feel like we're swimming out here all alone and we're sitting ducks,' she added.
Melissa Fowler, the chief program officer at the National Abortion Federation who oversees the organization's security efforts, said Trump's approach to the FACE Act is unprecedented.
'Historically, we have seen some administrations do more to enforce the FACE Act. That's been the norm, but this is on a totally different level,' she said. 'You have a Justice Department that has actually come out and said they will not enforce it unless there's grave harm. It shouldn't take someone being murdered for the federal government to enforce a law that makes people safe.'
Abortion providers, clinic staff and other experts working in the reproductive health field told HuffPost that Trump's rollback of the FACE Act is deeply demoralizing and signals a frightening future where the federal government will not protect them. Some have seen an increase in aggression and hostility from protesters in the last few weeks, suspecting that many are now emboldened by Trump and his anti-abortion administration.
Calla Hales has already seen protesters testing the limits at her abortion clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sheer number of protesters has increased in the last few weeks and some have tried to get on the property of A Preferred Women's Health Center, said Hales, the clinic's co-owner and executive director. Recently, Hales said she found someone sneaking around behind the clinic and taking photos of the building's back door.
The clinic received a bomb threat last year that the FBI was investigating before Trump's announcement. The investigation has since been handed off to a state agency, which 'felt like a slap in the face,' Hales said.
A Preferred Women's Health Center has four locations, two in North Carolina and two in Georgia. The Charlotte clinic is the most heavily protested, with Hales estimating it sees anywhere between 15,000 and 30,000 protesters a year. When I asked for more specifics about the clinic and their patient volume, Hales said with a laugh: 'I'm trying to figure out what I can tell you that's not gonna get me shot by an 'anti.''
Since the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade, violence against abortion providers and clinics has skyrocketed, making the FACE Act more vital than ever. The year Roe fell, there was a 538% increase in people obstructing clinic entrances, a 913% increase in stalking of clinic staff and a 133% increase in bomb threats, according to a National Abortion Federation report. Abortion clinics are also seeing an uptick in anti-abortion tourism: People from states where clinics have closed due to abortion bans travel long distances and, in some cases, have even moved to protest existing clinics in states where care is still legal.
Trump, who has repeatedly bragged about his role in overturning Roe, has filled his Cabinet with some of the most extreme anti-abortion zealots in politics. And although the president claims he wouldn't support a federal abortion ban, much of his Republican base continues to advocate for criminalizing and rolling back protections for abortion care. One GOP House member recently introduced legislation to repeal the FACE Act entirely.
Several people told HuffPost the FACE Act was just one item in their larger toolbox of protections, with a few acknowledging that it has always been incredibly hard to get a FACE conviction given the high bar for federal crimes. State and local law enforcement have and will continue to deal with clinic violence, but there will be varying degrees of effectiveness depending on what state a clinic is in and who is assigned to a case.
The 19 clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood Greater New York will continue to coordinate with pro-choice officials like state Attorney General Letitia James to curb clinic violence, said Dipal Shah, the chief external affairs officer with the group. But in places like Florida, where the majority of politicians and police are openly hostile to abortion supporters, it's a different story.
'We have police officers that have told our anti-abortion protesters, 'I'm with you. I agree,'' Winnie, a volunteer with the Orlando clinic escort group Stand With Abortion Now (SWAN), told HuffPost. She added that some clinic escorts in Greenville, South Carolina, who she knows through her work, are not able to fully rely on law enforcement since so many of them are church buddies with the very protesters outside their abortion clinics.
'Those evangelical circles are not as big as people think they are,' Winnie said. 'A lot of our anti-abortion protesters knew the people who had violated the FACE Act. Our protesters are friends with the people who had been arrested and were pardoned by Trump.'
'Of course they were all really empowered and excited that their friends get to come home, and they were really excited to learn that now they can continue intimidating our patients and feel no repercussions,' Winnie added.
Winnie, who is using a pseudonym because she regularly interacts with clinic protesters and is concerned for her safety, said last week a protester bull rushed into the Orlando abortion clinic screaming that the clinic was evil and needed to be stopped. He eventually left the building on his own, according to Winnie, but the clinic had to lock the patients and staff inside the building until police arrived.
Since Trump's announcement, SWAN has worked to get more clinic escorts trained and expand their training so it addresses the looming increase in violence. The organization is coordinating training in self-defense, deescalation, emergency medical treatment for minor injuries, and when to call the police.
The Biden administration made it a priority to enforce the FACE Act, with then-Attorney General Merrick Garland lauding the federal legislation as a key tool for the Justice Department to protect reproductive rights. Trump has criticized former President Joe Biden for 'weaponizing' the law, and made a campaign promise last summer to roll back the legislation.
'It's a really frightening message to providers that the government is not going to make a lot of effort to keep them safe,' Fowler, from NAF, said. 'At the same time it's signaling to people who oppose abortion that they can take the law into their own hands and there won't be consequences for that.'
Trump has already launched several attacks on reproductive health care in the last month and many are waiting with bated breath to see what he does next. Clinic workers know it's likely to get worse before it gets better, but Trump putting limits on the FACE Act is really just a reminder of what they've always known: Abortion clinics can only rely on each other to stay safe.
'The reality is that until the ugly, bitter end, we will be here. We will see patients however we can,' Hales said. 'We will adapt and survive for as long as we can.'
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