Pro-Life Grandmother’s Case Highlights Controversy Over Biden DOJ’s FACE Act Enforcement

Heather Idoni, a 61-year-old pro-life grandmother from Michigan, finds herself at the center of a debate surrounding the Biden administration’s aggressive prosecution of pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Idoni, along with several others, is accused of blocking access to a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2020.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the group used their bodies, furniture chains, and ropes to obstruct entrance to the facility while livestreaming their actions on social media. Idoni now faces felony conspiracy charges that could lead to up to 50 years in federal prison and over $1 million in fines.

Reports indicate that Idoni has been subjected to 22 days of solitary confinement and was brought into court heavily shackled shocking even the presiding judge who ordered the shackles to be partially removed. Idoni’s supporters see her treatment as emblematic of a broader pattern of the Biden DOJ’s aggressive stance against pro-life individuals.

Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade the FACE Act has been invoked 130 times against pro-life activists compared to only three times against pro-abortion protesters since the law’s inception. Critics argue that the DOJ’s handling of various groups demonstrates selective enforcement based on political expediency, pointing to the contrast in their approach to other forms of protest, especially those involving violence.

The conservative community and pro-life advocates have rallied around Idoni viewing her case as a symbol of perceived bias in the DOJ’s enforcement decisions.