Note: in his Senate confirmation hearings as Attorney General, Todd Blanche assured Texas Senator Ted Cruz he would go after women’s right to obtain the abortion medication mifepristone through the mail, applying the Comstock Act’s prohibition of mailing “obscene materials” (guns okay to send through mail, mail-in ballots not okay) and opening the door to a national abortion ban. With this reward to a convicted anti-abortion extremist, the trump administration is also opening the door to intimidation and violence against women and healthcare practitioners, much as they have given blessing to January 6 insurrectionists. Meanwhile, Trump is still pushing for his $1.776 BILLION fund to pay January 6 insurrectionists 7-figure “settlements”. – Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com
Washington, D.C. — The trump administration is handing a seven-figure, taxpayer-funded settlement to a convicted anti-abortion extremist who prevented patients from accessing reproductive healthcare. Paul Vaughn was convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act after helping blockade a Tennessee clinic. This hefty payout is an alarming escalation after President Trump pardoned Vaughn and 22 other anti-abortion extremists convicted under the FACE Act just days into his second term.
This news comes as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a staunch opponent of the FACE Act, awaits Senate confirmation to become the Attorney General permanently. Under Blanche, the DOJ fired the career attorneys responsible for enforcing clinic protections, dismissed pending FACE Act cases, and released a sham report attacking FACE Act enforcement. Blanche’s leadership of the DOJ threatens to effectively greenlight the terrorization of people seeking basic healthcare and shield extremists from accountability.
“While everyday families are struggling to pay for essentials, Trump and his administration are using taxpayer money to hand out massive payments to anti-abortion extremists,” Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju said in a statement. “Trump and Blanche have remade the DOJ into an institution that rewards violent criminals instead of holding them accountable—putting providers and patients at risk. They have once again flipped justice on its head. Voters won’t forget Republicans’ staggering corruption and warped priorities this November.”
The Trump administration’s attacks on the FACE Act threaten to erode the law’s protections and embolden anti-abortion extremists to escalate harassment, intimidation, and clinic blockades. Reproductive Freedom for All will continue fighting to defend the FACE Act, hold the Trump administration accountable for politicizing the Justice Department, and protect every person’s ability to access reproductive healthcare safely and without fear.
For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.