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Commentary

HICE: The Weaponized FBI’s Assault on Life Continues

May 19, 2023

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has a long and unfortunate history of targeting pro-life advocates for their beliefs. From arresting a pro-life father at gunpoint in front of his six children at their home to allowing violent attacks on churches and pregnancy centers to go unpunished, the Biden FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) are clear in their mission to destroy the unborn.

Earlier this week, two FBI agents showed up at the childhood home of Elise Ketch, a member of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), requesting to speak with her. It’s important to note the uniqueness of this particular situation — the PAAU is not a religious pro-life group. Its membership primarily consists of secular, left-leaning individuals who support other liberal social initiatives like the LGBTQ+ movement, Black Lives Matter, and anti-capitalist policies. This is not the typical profile of pro-life advocates the FBI and DOJ target.

A video first obtained by The Daily Signal depicts FBI agents Ashley Roberts and Kathleen Brown on the steps of Ketch’s childhood home, speaking to her mom. Ketch’s mother calls her on the phone and Elise can be heard saying, “FBI agents … Mom, don’t tell them anything.” And that’s good advice, considering the two agents don’t appear to have a warrant for their visit. Roberts and Brown are clearly acting in a manner meant to intimidate, with Roberts remarking, “... It’s not every day you get a knock on the door from the FBI.” Unfortunately, it is becoming a frequent experience for pro-life advocates.

The reason for the knock on Elise Ketch’s door? Her membership to a group that has challenged the extreme pro-abortion culture of Biden and the radical Left through nonviolent protests. PAAU became more well-known when it helped expose the improper disposal of five aborted premature babies outside of a Washington, D.C. abortion clinic in 2022. Ketch herself has participated in PAAU’s “Pink Rose Rescues” where volunteers peacefully and discreetly enter abortion facilities and distribute pink roses with pro-life resources to expectant mothers seeking an abortion.

It is incredible that the FBI and DOJ can’t find the time to answer questions about the five aborted babies found in D.C., nor the 200+ attacks on pregnancy resource centers and churches since the Dobbs leak, but they can make house calls to “check up on” and investigate peaceful advocates for the unborn. This blatant targeting is not about anyone’s actions — it’s about the sincerely held belief that life matters by individual people. The FBI is hiding behind the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, a bill signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1994.

The Left has tried to claim for over two decades that the FACE Act is “not about abortions.” But according to the same resource from the DOJ, the entire purpose of the bill is to stop “threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.” The meaning of this has been broadly interpreted and weaponized by the FBI to stop pro-life advocates from being able to exercise their First Amendment right to speak freely and assemble peacefully.

Biden is threatened by the reality that every life is uniquely created by God, as well as the science-based belief that life begins at conception. The FBI and DOJ need to stop terrorizing innocent families and start investigating the violent attacks on pregnancy centers and churches by pro-abortion criminals.

This gross weaponization of law enforcement should concern everyone, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. The incident at Elise Ketch’s family home is evidence that being pro-life is the issue this administration cares about. Biden is adamant that unborn lives be slaughtered in their mothers’ wombs.

Abortion is truly one of the most horrific and grotesque tragedies in American history — past and present — and the lengths of protection the Executive Branch is willing to take is beyond alarming. Something must be done to stop the FBI’s weaponized assault on the unborn and their peaceful advocates.