DOJ Sues 5 Pro-Life Activists for Repeatedly Obstructing Access to Abortion Clinics

The complaint alleges that five people brought operations at the Fort Myers Health Center to a halt for at least one hour in 2022.

Calvin Zastrow and his daughter, Eva Zastrow, pause in Indiana while on a road trip from their home in Michigan to a federal court in Nashville on April 1, 2024. Courtesy of Trish Zastrow

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against pro-life advocates, alleging violations under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law that prevents interfering with women entering abortion clinics.

The civil suit seeks a monetary penalty and an injunction that prevents repeat offenders from continuing their activities, marking a departure from the criminal cases that have been brought to prosecute violators of the FACE Act in recent years. In previous cases, the DOJ has asked the court to sentence the alleged offenders to 11 years in prison for each offense.