Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, assured senators that she will not target pro-life activists if confirmed, amid accusations that the Biden administration regularly engaged in such practices.
During her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked Bondi about the purported targeting of pro-life activists by the Biden administration.
Hawley talked about the “weaponization” of the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that the Biden administration “has carried out an unprecedented attack and campaign against people of faith.”
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Hawley referenced the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a controversial federal law passed in 1994 that is often used to prosecute pro-life activists who protest at abortion clinics.
“They used legislation, a law known as the FACE Act, to prosecute at least 53 different pro-life demonstrators,” Hawley said. “Will you stop the disparate treatment of Americans on the basis of religious Faith?”
“Yes, senator,” she responded.
Hawley also cited the arrest of Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck over a confrontation with an abortion clinic volunteer down the street from an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. Houck was later acquitted by a federal jury in January 2023.
“Will you put an end to that kind of deliberate intimidation of the good American citizens on the basis of their religious beliefs?” the senator asked.
“Yes, senator,” Bondi answered.
Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Bondi if she will continue to enforce the FACE Act should she be confirmed as attorney general.
Bondi replied that she would enforce the act, adding that “the FACE Act not only protects abortion clinics, but it also protects pregnancy centers, and people going for counseling. The law should be applied evenhandedly.”
Additionally, while Bondi said that she identifies as pro-life, she vowed that her “personal feelings would not influence” her actions on litigation regarding abortion laws.
Last November, Trump announced that he was nominating Bondi, who was serving as attorney general of Florida, to head the DOJ under his second administration.
“Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families,” Trump stated at the time.
“Then, as Florida’s first female attorney general, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of fentanyl overdose deaths, which have destroyed many families across our country.”
Trump had previously appointed Bondi to a position on the federal Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission in his first administration, with Trump saying she saved lives in that role.
Critics of the Biden DOJ have accused the federal body of having unfairly targeted conservative Christians in general and pro-life activists in particular.
In February 2023, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives held a subcommittee hearing centered on the alleged “weaponization” of federal law enforcement.
Some have called on Trump to officially pardon several pro-life activists who were recently given prison sentences for unlawfully blocking entrances to abortion clinics once he takes office.
