Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our report objectives were to provide information on (1) the occurrence of abortion clinic incidents before and after FACE, as reported to us by representatives of clinics that abortion rights groups identified as having experienced relatively high levels of incidents before the enactment of FACE; (2) views regarding FACE and its effectiveness from representatives of these clinics, selected police departments and U.S. Attorney offices, and other representatives from DOJ, ATF, three national abortion rights organizations, and two national anti-abortion organizations; (3) efforts by local and federal law enforcement agencies following the enactment of FACE and clinic, U.S. Attorney office, police department, abortions rights group, and anti-abortion rights group representatives’ satisfaction with these agencies; and (4) any court cases pertaining to FACE and the courts’ rulings in those cases. To obtain the views of representatives from abortion clinics, police departments, U.S. Attorney offices, and others regarding the effectiveness of FACE and the efforts of federal and local law enforcement following the enactment of FACE, we conducted structured telephone interviews with representatives of 42 abortion clinics and 15 police departments selected from a stratified sample of the 40 departments that serve the locations of the clinics we contacted. We took the following steps to identify cases in which FACE was litigated and the courts’ rulings in those cases:
We obtained from DOJ a summary of all the criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits it had initiated or completed pertaining to FACE as of September 11, 1998. We also asked representatives of these clinics whether incidents were more or less severe in the 2 years preceding our survey compared to the 2 years preceding the passage of FACE. Only 5 of the 42 clinic respondents indicated that FACE did not affect clinic incidents and 3 expressed the belief that FACE actually led to more threatening and violent incidents. Police Report Doing Training, Outreach, and Prevention to Reduce Incidents

Representatives of most of the 15 police departments we surveyed reported their departments had been involved in a variety of efforts to respond to and reduce clinic incidents since FACE was passed. Representatives of 31 of the 36 U.S. Attorney offices we surveyed reported that their districts had an abortion violence task force. Ten respondents told us their districts had established task forces prior to 1995. For example, 8 of the 10 respondents who said local law enforcement had been contacted about invasions at their clinics in the past 2 years said they were generally satisfied with local law enforcement’s response; only 5 of the 10 who reported local law enforcement was contacted about stalking were generally satisfied. Thirty of the 42 clinic respondents said that they were generally satisfied with federal law enforcement regarding anti-abortion activities, and 30 said they had observed particularly positive aspects of federal law enforcement. Most often, respondents described good communication efforts, with 16 providing responses that fell into this category. Constitutional challenges have included charges that FACE violates the freedom of speech and religion protections in the First Amendment. We identified a total of 46 criminal and civil cases that were either completed or pending as of September 11, 1998.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the occurrence of abortion clinic incidents before and after the enactment of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (FACE); (2) views regarding FACE and its effectiveness from representatives of these clinics, selected police departments and U.S. Attorney offices, and other representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and national anti-abortion organizations; (3) efforts by local and federal law enforcement agencies following the enactment of FACE; and (4) any court cases pertaining to FACE and the courts' rulings in those cases.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) clinic survey responses indicated that most of the clinics experienced fewer types of incidents during the 2 years preceding GAO's survey than they had in the 2 years prior to the passage of FACE; (2) respondents from 35 of the 42 clinics GAO surveyed credited FACE with deterring or reducing abortion clinic incidents; (3) respondents from 21 of the 36 U.S. Attorney offices GAO surveyed thought that FACE had positively affected incidents, including deterring or reducing their occurrence; (4) most of the other officials whom GAO interviewed from DOJ and national abortion rights organizations also felt that FACE has been a deterrent to clinic violence; (5) representatives of the police departments and anti-abortion organizations that GAO contacted were less consistent in their views; (6) representatives of 9 of the 15 police departments GAO contacted said their officers had received training pertaining to abortion clinics, and 12 said their departments had conducted outreach and education with clinics since FACE became law; (7) about half reported engaging in prevention activities; (8) representatives of 31 of the 36 U.S. Attorney offices GAO surveyed reported that their districts had established abortion violence task forces, and 29 reported accomplishments that included improved coordination and communication; (9) nearly all the U.S. Attorney respondents whose districts had task forces reported that meetings were typically attended by representatives of federal and local law enforcement agencies; (10) most clinic respondents were satisfied with both local and federal law enforcement; (11) clinic respondents who observed negative aspects of local law enforcement most often cited poor response to incidents and poor enforcement of laws; (12) 30 of the 42 clinic respondents were generally satisfied with federal law enforcement, often citing good communication, proactive steps, and good response to and investigation of incidents; (13) GAO identified 46 criminal and civil cases pertaining to FACE that were either completed or pending as of September 11, 1998; (14) many of these cases raised constitutional challenges to FACE; (15) these challenges were all ultimately unsuccessful; and (16) convictions were obtained in most of the reported criminal FACE prosecutions, and civil remedies were obtained in most of the civil lawsuits in which a FACE violation was alleged.