by Jorge Gomez • 3 minutes
The administration is promising to stop attacks against religious Americans. In a video address to the March for Life rally in Washington D.C. last week, President Trump said he will defend people of faith, namely those with deeply held convictions about the sanctity of human life.
“Never again will religious persecution be allowed to happen in America,” the President said. “Under my leadership, a reformed Department of Justice will finally investigate the radical left attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers, and we will bring perpetrators to justice.”
“I will also end the weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith,” Trump continued. “And I am releasing the Christians and pro-life activists who were persecuted by the Biden regime for praying and living out their faith.”
Evidence abounds showing that Biden’s DOJ repeatedly went after people of faith, especially pro-life Americans who exercised their legal right to peacefully protest and pray outside abortion centers.
President Trump last week also pardoned 23 pro-life advocates targeted by Biden’s DOJ.
“Many of them are elderly people,” Trump said as he signed the order. “They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this.”
A congressional report released in 2023 confirmed the Biden administration weaponized the FBI—an agency of the DOJ—to spy on American Catholics. And while Biden’s DOJ persecuted Americans because of their religious beliefs, the department turned a blind eye to a wave of violence against houses of worship and religious charities across the country.
First Liberty has been at the forefront to protect faith-based pregnancy-resource centers from vandalism and violence. We represented Heartbeat of Miami, a faith-based ministry that provides life-affirming services and support to women and couples facing unplanned pregnancies in Hialeah, Florida.
We filed a federal lawsuit to hold accountable the individuals who defaced and spray-painted threatening messages on Heartbeat’s property. We secured a huge victory last summer when four vandals pleaded guilty to felony charges.
First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys testified before Congress to bring attention to the alarming rise in violence against faith-based pregnancy-resource centers, noting that hundreds have been vandalized dating back to the leak of the Dobbs v Jackson draft opinion in 2022.
After that leak, vandals associated with Jane’s Revenge began attacking faith-based pregnancy-resource centers across the nation. They spray-painted threatening messages such as “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you,” fire-bombed buildings, broke windows, doxxed staff, board members and volunteers, and disrupted private events in an effort to intimidate and interfere with access to the pregnancy-resource centers’ free services.
“No longer will the federal government direct FBI raids on…Catholic and Christian activists who are fighting for the unborn every single day,” Vice President Vance told the March for Life crowd in his first public speech as the second in command.
“No longer will our government throw pro-life protestors and activists, elderly grandparents, or anybody else in prison,” he added.
Pam Bondi—President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General—echoed that position and said the Justice Department will no longer be weaponized against people of faith.
“That is the whole problem…the weaponization that we’ve seen over the last four years,” Bondi said during her Senate confirmation hearing. “That will not be the case if I am Attorney General. I will not politicize that office. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country.”
During his first week in office, President Trump signed executive orders repealing the Biden administration’s promotion of radical gender ideology, ending the weaponization of government and safeguarding free speech. These actions will greatly benefit religious freedom and help many First Liberty clients who are fighting in court for their rights.
The Trump administration is moving in a positive direction and the outlook for religious freedom appears to be much brighter than it was during the Biden years. Let’s continue to pray that our nation’s leaders fulfill their promises.
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