Abortion clinic protesters eligible for payouts from new Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The Justice Department’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund — created by a legal settlement</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/18/trump-irs-lawsuit-settlement-00925801","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>created by a legal settlement between President Donald Trump and his own administration — could funnel money to activists who broke into and blocked patients from entering abortion clinics.

The text of the settlement</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28132616-sdfl-settlement-signed/?q=FACE+act&mode=document#document/p2","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>text of the settlement and recent statements by DOJ leaders stress that any people who believe they are “victims of lawfare and weaponization” by any presidential administration past or present could be eligible for payouts. But the document highlights a handful of groups in particular who have the potential to receive payouts, including those convicted under the Biden Justice Department for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act — a 1994 law that made it a felony to prevent people from entering either a health care facility or a house of worship.

Shortly after taking office last year, Trump pardoned nearly two dozen people</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/23/trump-pardons-abortion-clinic-protesters-00200292","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>pardoned nearly two dozen people convicted for barricading themselves outside or inside abortion clinics during the Biden administration, some of whom were serving federal prison sentences. It also issued guidance directing officials not to penalize</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.justice.gov/media/1386461/dl","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>guidance directing officials not to penalize such actions going forward except under “extraordinary circumstances” with “significant aggravating factors, such as death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage.”

Anti-abortion activists</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/02/anti-abortion-trump-doj-protests-00206784","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b40009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Anti-abortion activists have since ramped up</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/abortion-clinic-safety-trump-pardons-00234319","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000a","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000b","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>since ramped up their civil disobedience and protest actions, according to a report released Tuesday</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://nationalabortionfederation.org/safety-security/2025-naf-violence-disruption/","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>report released Tuesday by the pro-abortion rights advocacy group National Abortion Federation.

The group found that blockades of abortion clinics increased from one in 2024 to six in 2025, while stalking of abortion providers and death threats against them more than doubled during that time — from 19 to 40 and from 38 to 81, respectively. Assault and battery incidents also ticked up from 19 in 2024 to 23 in 2025.

Trump’s pardon and reduced enforcement, the group’s CEO Brittany Fonteno said on a Tuesday press call, “sent a really clear and really dangerous message that people who harass, threaten and intimidate abortion providers and patients may not face consequences for violating the law, and we’re seeing the impact play out across the country.”

DOJ did not respond immediately to POLITICO’s request for comment.

Democrats on Capitol Hill</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/18/trump-irs-lawsuit-settlement-00925801","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000e","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b4000f","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Democrats on Capitol Hill argue that the fund can’t dole out money until Congress appropriates money for it, something they have vowed to prevent as they blast the effort as corrupt. The administration has countered that the fund can draw from an already appropriated pool that is set aside to settle claims against the federal government.

Questioned about the new fund at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this week, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued it is an appropriate response to “years and years of weaponization” of the FACE Act and other laws.

Those who apply, he added, could receive either “an apology” or “monetary compensation.”

The Justice Department released a report</u>","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1436006/dl?inline","_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b50000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000019e-5a12-d62d-afde-ffff82b50001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>released a report in April revealing that the Biden administration relied on information from NAF and other abortion-rights advocacy groups in its FACE Act enforcement efforts. Though the prior administration enforced the law against both those who protested at abortion clinics and at anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, the report argued such coordination showed bias.

المصدر: Politico