Four days after Donald Trump was sworn in, Calla Hales got a call from the FBI. The abortion-clinic director had been in touch with the agency’s local civil-rights team on and off since July, when someone rang up A Preferred Women’s Health Center (APWHC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, and told the person who’d answered that they’d bomb the clinic and wipe it out of existence. The FBI agent told Hales that they would no longer be investigating the threat and were instead passing the case on to state authorities. “This is fucking insane,” she thought. “Somebody called and threatened to blow us up, and you are telling me that this isn’t worth prosecuting on a federal level?”
Like most people in her field, Hales is no stranger to anti-abortion violence and threats. APWHC, which her family founded in 1998, has been frequently targeted by abortion opponents, and its Charlotte location sees more than 20,000 protesters each year. Hales herself was raped nearly a decade ago by a man who repeatedly showed up at demonstrations outside APWHC’s clinic in Raleigh. And then there was that bomb threat. Throughout it all, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), a 30-year-old law that criminalizes the use of force, threats, or physical obstruction against patients seeking reproductive-health services, has helped protect abortion providers — until now.
Trump’s Department of Justice issued a memo on January 24 directing agencies not to enforce the FACE Act except under “extraordinary circumstances” or in cases where there are “significant aggravating factors, such as death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage.” The message to clinics like AWPHC is clear: They are largely on their own under Trump 2.0.
The return of the self-proclaimed “most pro-life president” in history and his administration’s narrowing of FACE Act enforcement add yet another level of stress to overextended clinics trying to operate in the rapidly changing post-Roe legal landscape. For abortion providers, violence comes with the territory. Since the National Abortion Federation (NAF) began tracking security incidents in 1977, anti-abortion activists have committed 11 murders, 42 bombings, 200 acts of arson, and 531 assaults. The FACE Act, which passed with bipartisan support in 1994 following the murder of Dr. David Gunn, helped curb some of the anti-abortion movement’s worst tactics.
“I started as an abortion provider in the late ’80s in Minnesota,” says Amy Hagstrom Miller, the founder and CEO of the Whole Woman’s Health network. “We had protesters coming into the clinics trying to invade the space who’d break down the doors and lock themselves with bike locks around their necks. They’d lie on the ground on the driveway to block access. The FACE Act helped stop these actions.”
But now clinic workers fear Republicans are opening the door to an escalation of violence that the country has not seen in decades. Representative Chip Roy from Texas introduced a measure to repeal the FACE Act in its entirety. The administration directed federal agencies away from fully enforcing the law — a policy directive straight out of Project 2025, the far-right transition plan created by Trump alumni. The president also pardoned nearly two dozen anti-abortion activists convicted for violating the act, and the DOJ has dismissed three active cases involving anti-abortion activists who blockaded clinics in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee.
“I’m pretty concerned that these people are being released,” says Hagstrom Miller. “Some of the people at the Capitol on January 6 — we recognize them. They’re the same people who’ve been in our clinics. People need to understand the domestic-terrorism vibe that some of these folks have. It’s not just a matter of free speech, it’s actually violence.”
Her concern is not unfounded. Herb Geraghty, one of the people Trump pardoned, told the New York Times that in the coming years the anti-abortion movement is likely to engage in “more direct action, putting our bodies on the line between the victim and the oppressor, regardless of what the consequences might be.” He added that he is looking forward to returning to protesting clinics.
Melissa Fowler, chief program officer at NAF, has seen this type of escalation before. “In the first year of Trump’s last term, we saw trespassing at clinics more than triple. Death threats and threats of harm nearly doubled. We saw a dramatic increase of incidents of obstruction. And we have continued to see more incidents like blockades and clinic invasions,” she says. “These pardons basically send a message that you can break certain laws without any penalty, which is incredibly frightening in this climate.”
Hales says APWHC’s Charlotte location has seen more aggressive protesters since the election, including an anti-abortion activist who pretended to be a patient and attempted to gain access to the clinic in late January. “They are pushing, trying to see how far they can get away with it,” she says.
Providers are cautiously preparing for all outcomes. Jennifer Pepper, the president and CEO of CHOICES, an independent clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, says staff are installing new privacy screens, bulletproof glass, and security cameras. Implementing these preventive measures will likely require reallocating resources away from actual abortion care, she says. They’re also warning patients about the potential for a higher volume of protesters to disrupt the clinic. “The Trump administration is condoning and encouraging the use of intimidation and physical aggression to prevent people from accessing health care,” Pepper says. “Because of this, we are expecting to see fewer patients due to fear of coming to a brick-and-mortar clinic, and we are preparing staff to potentially see increased violence and stalking.”
The threat is not theoretical for Julie Burkhart, a clinic owner in Wyoming. Her mentor, longtime abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, was murdered in his church by an anti-abortion activist in 2009. Burkhart has received death threats for most of her own career in abortion care, and in 2022, a woman set fire to the clinic she was set to open in Casper. It took nearly a year and $300,000 to repair Wellspring Health Access, which finally began operating in the spring of 2023.
The arsonist — a 22-year-old woman who opposed abortion — was sentenced to five years in prison. But Burkhart sees a frightening message in the Trump administration’s pardons and FACE Act memo. “It signaled to me that this administration is not going to put the resources or effort into ensuring that we as medical providers with clinics across this country are protected,” she says. “The arsonist is doing time in federal prison, and it made me think, Well, is this person going to be released, too?”
There’s already been a chilling effect among providers. Several doctors and clinic owners I spoke with have already had abortion opponents show up to their homes, follow their staff home from work, and blast out their families’ personal information online, and they are fearful of drawing further attention to themselves in the current political environment. They are also concerned that activists will travel to states where abortion remains available, just as patients do, and try to disrupt care there.
“Because we provide abortions into the third trimester, we are a pretty big target,” says one doctor who was nervous about sharing their thoughts around the FACE Act. “As the number of clinics goes down, the protesters can focus their efforts on the remaining clinics. They’re emboldened because they’ve been pardoned and they know the law won’t be enforced.”
Hales recognized several names on Trump’s list of pardons. They are the names of people who’ve harassed her, either in person or online, and at least one man who’s been spotted protesting outside the Charlotte clinic. “This is a real moment of clarity. It sucks. It’s awful. I won’t sugarcoat that,” she says. “But my feelings and fears don’t get patients seen. There’s already so few providers as it is, so we have to hold the fort down.”
The Cut offers an online tool you can use to search by Zip Code for professional providers, including clinics, hospitals, and independent OB/GYNs, as well as for abortion funds, transportation options, and information for remote resources like receiving the abortion pill by mail. For legal guidance, contact Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812 or the Abortion Defense Network.