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History of violence by anti-abortion extremists in America (updated)

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In September, the FBI warned of possible attacks on Planned Parenthood.

“[I]t is likely criminal or suspicious incidents will continue to be directed against reproductive health care providers, their staff and facilities” … The FBI believes the incidents are, “consistent with the actions of lone offenders using tactics of arsons and threats all of which are typical of the pro-life extremist movement”.

Also in September, CBS reported that in 2015 the nation had seen nine criminal or suspicious incidents in seven states and the District of Columbia.

This current raft of attacks seem inspired by heavily edited video released by a group of anti-abortion activists on 14 July. The extremists call themselves Center for Medical Progress, a misnomer. The videos were edited to argue that Planned Parenthood employees were selling fetal tissue, claims that were subsequently debunked.

Long history of violence

In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v Wade. The first reported abortion clinic arson occurred in 1976, followed by a series of bombings in 1978.

Protests at clinics became so extreme that Congress passed Freedom of access to clinic entrances in 1993. It protects:

  • crisis pregnancy centers,
  • abortion clinics,
  • physicians’ offices,
  • other reproductive health clinics,
  • churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other religious buildings

Despite the federal action, violence continued. Also in 1993, Dr. David Gunn was shot to death by Michael Griffin in Pensacola, Florida. He was the first doctor who performed abortions to be murdered. In 1998, Eric Rudolph bombed clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham, AL; he was also the the Centennial Olympic Park bomber. In 2009, Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in his church in Wichita, Kansas.

In addition to the “Center for Medical Progress”, anti-abortion extremists formed “Operation Rescue” which subsequently split into two groups. Randall Terry formed Operation Rescue in 1986; Keith Tucci succeeded him as the organization’s leader in 1990.

ORN’s activities gained attention again in 1991 during the “Summer of Mercy” in Wichita, Kansas, led by Keith Tucci. Thousands of anti-abortion protesters flocked to Wichita and were arrested at sit-in protests and blockades of clinic entrances and adjacent streets. The protests were held at three different clinic locations in Wichita but focused on George Tiller’s abortion clinic. Over 1,600 arrests took place during the first three weeks, with thousands of locals gathering and dozens of clergy people becoming involved.[1] The event lasted six weeks, with over 2,600 arrests accomplished by the Wichita Police Department.[5] The protests culminated in a rally that filled Cessna Stadium, featuring Pat Robertson. The New York Times ran an article on August 4, 1991, quoting John Snow, a retired accountant who sat on the sidewalk across from Tiller’s clinic in Wichita, dispensing Kool-Aid and saying the rosary:[1] “They’re in there killing babies, nothing else, ma’am.” (source)

In late 1993, Tucci handed leadership of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America to Rev. Flip Benham in Dallas, TX and leadership of Operation Rescue International/Life Coalition International to Dr. Pat McEwen in Melbourne, FL. In 1999, under Troy Newman, Operation Rescue West moved from from California to Kansas. After a legal fight with Benham, ORW became Operation Rescue but is sometimes referred to as Operation Rescue Kansas (source).

In 2012, there were 12 incidents of vandalism, one burglary, one invasion, one arson attack, one death threat and four stalking incidents, according CNN.

Specific incidents of terrorism or agit-prop

This is an incomplete list of attacks and intimidation. For more detailed records, see the NAF database. Or read Living in the Crosshairs (2014); law professor David S. Cohen and attorney Krysten Connon share the stories of fear and intimidation that is reality for doctors in America who provide choice.

October 1, 2015 // Thousand Oaks, CA

The M.O. in California was very similar to the arson in Washington.

September 4, 2015 // Pullman, WA

An early-morning fire at Planned Parenthood in Pullman was arson. The Pullman Planned Parenthood office did not perform abortions.

August 3, 2015 // New Orleans, LA

An unidentified person poured gasoline on a recently laid foundation and a security guard’s car early Saturday morning at the construction site of the Planned Parenthood facility in New Orleans. The security vehicle caught fire at 3:42 a.m., though the concrete failed to ignite. (source)

July 19, 2015 // Aurora, IL

Planned Parenthood officials reported an attempted arson outside the clinic’s front door on 19 July.

April 1, 2012 // Grand Chute, WI

A homemade bomb exploded at the city’s Planned Parenthood clinic; Francis Grady said he bombed the clinic because “they’re killing babies there.”

March 1993 // “joke” booklet distributed to 33,000 med students

A 14-page “joke” booklet was distributed by the anti-choice group Life Dynamics to more than 33,000 medical students. The jokes recommended that physicians who provide abortion care should be shot, attacked by dogs, and buried in concrete. One medical student who received the booklet the same day Dr. Gunn was murdered stated: “It was very upsetting. . . . [T]he jokes all describe ob-gyns who perform abortions as people who should be killed. It’s an attempt to discourage people [in medical] training from even thinking about doing abortions.” (source)

As reported in the Washington Post:

“We may not get laws changed or be able to change people’s minds,” said Bruce Cadle, field director of Operation Rescue National, an anti-abortion group that is targetting doctors. “But if there is no one willing to conduct abortions, there are no abortions.”

September 2000 // Rockford, IL

Rev. John Earl, a Catholic priest, smashed his car into the sole abortion clinic in Rockford, Illinois, and then proceeded to attack the clinic with an ax, until the building’s owner fired warning shots from a shotgun to stop him. (source)

1999 court case

In February 1999, a federal jury ordered two anti-abortion groups and 12 individuals to pay $109 million to Planned Parenthood of Columbia/Willamette, the Portland Feminist Women’s Health Center, and several physicians, finding that the Nuremberg Files web site, a Deadly Dozen poster, and a wanted poster constituted true threats not protected under the First Amendment. (source)

Updated: 3:01 pm Eastern
Posted: 00:39 am Eastern