Abortion clinics prepare for a new chapter of violence

The national network of abortion providers sent a security alert to clinics in the Washington, D.C., area, warning of possible unrest and violence related to an extremist group’s plans to protest outside the Health and Human Services building on Thursday.

Rescue Resurrection said on its website that the protest will call on the Trump administration “to take decisive action to restrict and ultimately ban the abortion pill.” Mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, has been at the center of Republican attacks since access to abortion pills by mail increased the number of abortions in the United States since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Randall Terry, founder of Rescue Resurrection and notorious far-right anti-abortion leader, guest followers to be arrested with him on Thursday, which would have been the 53rd anniversary of Roe.

The protest announcement replaced a different plan of action that had been in place for Rescue Resurrection: a nationwide “national rescue day,” which would have involved coordinated attacks on clinics across the country. “Missionaries in their respective cities will hold protests and perhaps some form of civil disobedience in defense of the unborn, with bold new ideas and tactics,” reads a description of the event posted on the group’s website, which has since been taken down.

The National Abortion Federation’s security team has identified at least one planned blockade of a D.C. abortion clinic by anti-choice protesters this week, executive director Brittany Fonteno told News themezone.

Harassment and violence are commonplace for providers and clinic staff, especially in late January, when the anniversary of Roe and the March for Life, a massive anti-choice demonstration in Washington, coincide on consecutive days.

But some abortion rights advocates and providers told News themezone that this year is different because they are also working against the federal government.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter of violence” fonteno said.

A “perfect storm” of extremism has emerged for those working in abortion care, she said. As one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump limited enforcement of the FACE Act, a federal law created to safeguard abortion providers and patients, and pardoned 23 people who were convicted on the charge. Many of the people Trump pardoned are now stalking from behind and threatening Patients and abortion clinic workers. Republicans have also been working to repeal the FACE Law entirely. The political decision sent a clear message to providers: The federal government will not protect abortion clinics.

AP Photo/Cliff Owen

NAF sent a regional security alert, shared with News themezone, to its clinics in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland ahead of the anti-abortion action planned for this week. The organization also hosted two community calls about increasing safety measures at brick-and-mortar clinics. Fonteno said they are monitoring the situation and working with the only clinic they believe will be targeted to ensure all safety precautions are taken.

Some providers have discussed turning away patients or canceling in-clinic care on the anniversary of Roe because they do not want to expose patients or staff to further harassment.

Terry, the leader of Rescue Resurrection, is also the founder of Operation Rescue. The group coordinated some of the most violent anti-abortion attacks of the 1980s and 1990s, the same ones that led to the passage of the FACE Act in 1994.

Rescue Resurrection alludes to reviving the large-scale clinical violence Operation Rescue executed so successfully in the pre-FACE Act era.

“If we believe abortion is murder, we must act as if it were. We must respond with equal courage and sacrifice to this crime,” Terry wrote in a letter posted on the Rescue Resurrection website. Terry did not respond to News themezone’s request for comment.

“If we believe that abortion is murder, we must act as if it were. We must respond with courage and sacrifice commensurate with this crime.”

– Randall Terry, anti-abortion extremist

In December, Resurrection Rescue blocked staff and patients of entering a Planned Parenthood health clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, even though abortion is completely prohibited in the state. Seventeen anti-abortion protesters were arrested after a three-day event and “pro-life activist training academy” course organized by Rescue Resurrection.

The group is part of a widespread increase in threats and violence against abortion providers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022.

That year, there was a 538% increase in people blocking clinic entrances, a 913% increase in harassment of clinic staff, and a 133% increase in bomb threats. according to a NAF report. A recent report from Abortion Care Network shows that anti-abortion extremists have intensified their attacks by focusing on the few remaining clinics in states where abortion is still legal.

Is It is often difficult to obtain a conviction under the FACE Act.but providers still see it as an important deterrent to increasing anti-choice violence. Abortion providers and advocates told News themezone they have seen anti-choice protesters become emboldened since Trump gutted enforcement of the FACE law last year.

“It is very clear that [the FACE Act] “It won’t be enforced, so it has emboldened some people within our communities to potentially try to violate local laws and ordinances because there are no federal forces protecting us,” said Melissa Grant, chief operating officer of Carafem, a reproductive health organization that has abortion clinics in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Chicago.

“It’s worrying and real,” he added.

Diane Horvath, obstetrician-gynecologist and provider of Partners in abortion caresaid Trump’s pardon of anti-abortion extremists motivated his clinic to rebuild the entire reception area and install bulletproof windows. Partners in Abortion Care, located less than an hour from DC, used to speak regularly with its local FBI office.

“We used to have really great contact with the FBI, in our local office… but we can’t even get anyone from the FBI to return phone calls,” Horvath said. “Now we can’t even find anyone to report to.”

As anti-abortion violence rises, apparently with Trump’s blessing, there is a growing divide in the Republican anti-abortion field. Rescue Resurrection’s decision to protest at the HHS building signals to Trump that hardline anti-choice groups are unhappy with the administration’s approach to the abortion pill.

A handful of anti-abortion organizations and leaders have called for Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Fired After Bombshell Bloomberg News report The FDA is reportedly delaying a safety evaluation of mifepristone until after the 2026 midterm elections. decision to review The abortion pill emerged after a months-long lobbying campaign by anti-abortion groups, despite the drug’s 25-year safety record.