NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee jury has convicted six anti-abortion protesters of violating federal laws after they blocked the entrance of a reproductive clinic outside Nashville nearly three years ago.
Before Roe was overturned, the Justice Department oversaw just a handful of FACE Act violation cases.
Advocates like the National Abortion Federation say the uptick in cases reflects the rise in harassment and violence abortion clinics have faced since state abortion bans have been allowed to go into effect.
Some have called on the Justice Department to apply the 1994 federal law more equitably and use it to investigate those who target crisis pregnancy centers.
President Bill Clinton signed the FACE Act into law in 1994 following a string of high-profile attacks against abortion clinics, which included Dr. David Gunn being shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida in 1993 — marking the first abortion provider killed in the U.S.
Persons:
Roe, Wade, Chester Gallagher, Paul Vaughn, Heather Idoni, Calvin Zastrow, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, ”, Henry C, “, —, Steve Crampton, Bill Clinton, David Gunn
Organizations:
—, ”, U.S, Supreme, Prosecutors, Thomas More Society, Justice Department, National Abortion Federation, Republican, Catholic
Locations:
Tenn, Tennessee, Nashville, Mount Juliet , Tennessee, Pensacola , Florida, U.S