Minnesota Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (MN FACE Act)
SF 3350 – Sen. Ron Latz | HF 3041 – Rep. Heather Edelson
Women should never have to choose between their safety and their healthcare. A woman’s right to access medical care shouldn’t be accompanied by feelings of threat or intimidation and local law enforcement should have the ability to assist in making sure clinics are safe and secure spaces. The Minnesota FACE Act, or Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, outlines activities that would be prohibited under Minnesota Law ensuring women safe access to health care.
This Bill makes the following actions a gross misdemeanor:
- Intentionally obstructing, injuring, intimidating, or interfering with a reproductive health services client, provider, or staff while they are entering or exiting a reproductive health clinic;
- Damaging property belonging to a reproductive health provider;
- Telephoning or knowingly permitting their phone to be used to disrupt the normal functions of a reproductive health service facility;
- Intentionally impeding or interfering with the operation of a motor vehicle attempting to enter or exit or park.
This bill expressly prohibits any impairment of constitutionally protected first amendment rights and activities, including free speech and the right to assemble.
President Clinton signed the federal FACE Act into law in 1994 in response to the increase in violence around reproductive health clinics. Given the amplified uncertainty under the Trump Administration, states are in a unique position to make sure that laws that may get repealed or not enforced on a federal level will still be enforced at the state level. It is more important than ever to safeguard a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions and to make sure she feels safe and secure when she does.