Jonathan Darnel, who was once federally prosecuted under the FACE Act, warns conservatives not to celebrate using that same law against protesters, arguing it will cement a tool that future Democrats will wield to crush anti-abortion civil disobedience and stall the rescue movement he believes is essential.
I watched the conservative reaction to the Cities Church disruption and felt a knot in my chest instead of triumph. Plenty on the right want to press the FACE Act into service as punishment, but that impulse misses the larger strategic picture and the cost to the pro-life cause. This is not about who gets even; it is about whether we hand the opposition a permanent weapon.
In 2022 I was taken into custody, “arrested me” at gunpoint during a peaceful anti-abortion rescue in Washington, D.C., charged under FACE and Conspiracy to Deny Rights. That prosecution sent me to federal prison and showed how easily the Department of Justice can apply federal law to activists who believed they were protecting the most vulnerable. Seeing conservatives cheer the same application of the law against protesters now feels like watching my side hand the other team the rulebook.
The FACE Act was born as a blunt instrument to smash the 1990s rescue movement, and it saddled penalties that could reach absurd lengths. Politicians on both sides traded principles for deals and the religious service clause was slotted in to win votes, leaving a toxic package few on the right seem eager to admit they helped enable. The result is a federal statute that criminalizes deeply held protest tactics and chills civil disobedience aimed at ending abortion fast.
const observer = new MutationObserver((mutations) => { const adDivToHide = document.querySelector("#dailycaller_incontent_1"); if (adDivToHide && dc_noads_page) { adDivToHide.classList.add("hide-premium", "hide-free"); observer.disconnect(); console.log("Ad div found and hidden"); } }); observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });From prison I kept writing and warning fellow pro-lifers: repeal FACE, do not become dependent on it. If the right treats it like a tool instead of an anathema, congressional appetite for repeal dries up and the law becomes permanent. Then a future Democratic administration will use it against any form of disruptive pro-life action, and the movement loses a critical lever.
Yes, there are times when liberal activists vandalize centers or harass Christians in churches and communities, and those acts deserve consequence under appropriate statutes. But that does not justify turning to the law that put me behind bars when it suits our anger. Revenge-based lawmaking is shortsighted: you may get a single win but you trade away the broader ability to challenge abortion through direct action.
(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=739c4263-c671-4316-b7cf-ecd244900844&cid=9c4d09f1-aa3e-4da1-ad63-362d562ecfad'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "739c4263-c671-4316-b7cf-ecd244900844" }).render("59f64f116598417b8d610477330f5a3e"); });Some argue that weaponizing FACE against leftist radicals will pressure Democrats to support repeal, but that misunderstands party incentives. Democrats answer to abortion providers and activists first, not to procedural consistency. If Republicans champion FACE as a cudgel, they unwittingly become its guarantors instead of its grave diggers.
Look, I get the raw feeling of wanting to make the other side pay. I have been screamed at, had equipment destroyed, and suffered violence at protests — pain that makes any measured response feel weak. But we must think beyond emotional satisfaction and toward the long campaign to save lives; letting a federal statute harden into a tool of suppression will cost us that campaign.
const observer2 = new MutationObserver((mutations) => { const adDivToHide2 = document.querySelector("#dailycaller_incontent_2"); if (adDivToHide2 && dc_noads_page) { adDivToHide2.classList.add("hide-premium", "hide-free"); observer2.disconnect(); console.log("Ad div2 found and hidden"); } }); observer2.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });Conservatives who fret about their safe spaces but shrug at the mass slaughter of preborn children are misprioritizing. Christians in other parts of the world face far harsher persecution and yet remain committed to sacrificial witness; our relative comfort should make us bolder, not softer. If reviving rescue is part of ending abortion, we should not cut off that option by normalizing FACE as a partisan weapon.
The choice now is clear: pursue laws and tactics that protect life and preserve tools for future action, or let grudges turn into permanent barriers. Repeal should be the goal, not opportunistic enforcement. If conservatives want to be effective and consistent, they must refuse to celebrate a statute that once jailed their own and could jail many more who take principled risks for life.
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