NEW YORK (AP) – America’s abortion clinics experienced a major upsurge in trespassing, obstruction and blockades by anti-abortion activists in 2017, according to an annual survey by an industry group.
The National Abortion Federation report chronicled a litany of actions that ranged from coordinated trespassing efforts by abortion opponents, repeated brick-throwing at windows of a Cleveland clinic and an attempted bombing in Illinois.
In this Monday, July 17, 2017 file photo, escort volunteers line up outside the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville, Ky. On July 21, 2017, a federal judge established a buffer zone outside the clinic to keep anti-abortion protesters from assembling in front of the entrance, after at least 10 protesters were arrested for blocking it earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)The report found that there was an overall decrease in acts of vandalism against clinics but a significant increase in activities aimed at disrupting services and intimidating patients and providers. Acts of trespassing increased from 247 in 2016 to 823 in 2017, instances of obstruction tripled to 1,704 and threats of death or other harm nearly doubled to 62.
“The protesters are feeling emboldened by the political environment and seeing what they could get away with,” said the federation’s president, Vicki Saporta. “They want to make it more difficult to provide care, without going to very extreme forms of violence.”
The federation based its findings on monthly reports filed by its members who make up the vast majority of abortion clinics nationally.