Her testimony before Congress about the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, got her a verbal slap in the face, followed by threats of violence
- Helen
- May 27
- 3 min read
Robert Kramer, guest blogger writes about the growing tendency in America to falsely treat our own viewpoint as superior while failing to see there are always two sides to every coin. What we share is humanity.
On April 28 Jessica Waters,
senior scholar in residence at
American University’s School of
Public Health addressed a House
Judiciary subcommittee for two
hours about the Freedom of
Access to Clinic Entrances
(FACE) Act. That is the federal
law that prohibits violence and
harassment against reproductive
healthcare providers or patients
seeking care.
Her testimony was limited to the
safety of providers and patients
at these clinics, but less than an
hour later her phone lit up with
emails and social media alerts
(and security teams tracking
them).
Waters stated, “scores of the
messages and posts said, you
are a bitch, a whore and slurs
that can’t be published.”
One message questioned whether she could still be “aborted” and another
answered, “I think she can.” Other messages asked about where she
worked, did she hate children, and promised to seek vengeance.
In less than one day there were hundreds of thousands of these messages.
She could not understand how a pretty narrowly focused and not “breaking-
news” congressional hearing got all this attention. Then she realized what
had happened.
A member of the subcommittee that held the hearing, Brandon Gill,
Republican from Texas, posted a comment on social media. His only
activity in the hearing room was to ask Waters what her favorite abortion
methods were. Naturally dozens of outlets and influencers in the MAGA
echo chamber reposted and shared the clip intensifying the hate storm.
And Gill also reposted, further amp0lifying the hate messages.
Waters colleague; Cynthia Miller-Idriss has documented how gendered
hate speech and slurs are designed to induce fear and intimidate women.
That speech can also escalate to physical violence.
Donald Trump uses his position to elevate that speech. He has pardoned
23 FACE violators after they were convicted by juries. The Department of
Justice was ordered to stop prosecuting FACE cases and has fired lawyers
who prosecuted them. Trump wants to repeal the FACE act.
Waters testimony was solely about a federal law aimed at preventing
harassment, threats, and violence against healthcare providers and
patients. These messages and actions signal abortion providers that they
are not safe, and their patients will not be protected.
She says, “the storm against me will blow over, the peril that doctors and
patients must contend with daily will not, if the FACE Act is repealed.”
All this violent rhetoric purportedly intended to protect unborn fetuses is after Republicans made massive cuts to social safety nets in 2025, including to Medicaid that covers about 60% of ALL pregnancies and newborn care in the U.S.
Recent findings about the fallout comes from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities . It found that over 700,000 children across 12 states lost SNAP federal food aid since the GOP legislation took effect.
Urban Institute suggested that up to 18.3 million children could lose access to free school meals due to budget reconciliation and program changes.
These thoughtless austerity measures by Republicans were done despite knowing that in 2024, 1 in 7 American households suffered from food insecurity. That is 13.7% of American homes.
Households in the Southern region continued to experience the highest rates of food insecurity at 15.0 percent.
Wrong priorities!
Jessica Waters is a senior scholar in residence at American University’s School of Public Health.
Read her complete posting about her testimony at:
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