Saving FACE Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill would remove federal criminal penalties for physically blocking access to abortion clinics. Currently, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act makes it a federal crime to obstruct, intimidate, or interfere with people seeking or providing reproductive health services. This bill strips away those protections specifically for abortion-related services.
• The bill renames the existing law from "Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances" to "Freedom of Access to Church Entrances," keeping federal protections only for people accessing religious services while removing them for people accessing abortion care.
• The bill redefines "reproductive health services" to explicitly exclude abortions. This means that while federal protections would still cover other reproductive health services like contraception or prenatal care, abortion services would no longer be covered by the law.
• The bill also removes the words "abortions or other" from one provision, further narrowing what counts as a protected reproductive health service under the law. It adds a detailed definition of "abortion" that covers any instrument, drug, or device used to intentionally end a pregnancy.
• The bill was introduced by Rep. Ogles along with four Republican cosponsors and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. As a bill in committee with narrow sponsorship, it faces a long road before it could become law.