What The Hell America!

Despite clinic closures and legal setbacks, antiabortion extremists have ramped up a nationwide campaign of violence and intimidation targeting abortion providers, according to a new report.

The National Abortion Federation (NAF) this week released their Violence and Disruption Report for 2023 and 2024, documenting widespread antiabortion terrorism against abortion clinics.

“Although many clinics have closed as a result of abortion bans, we continue to see sustained harassment and violence that wouldn’t be tolerated against any other healthcare providers or profession,” said Melissa Fowler, chief program officer at NAF.

The report revealed that there were 1,199 violent incidents at abortion clinics in 2023 and 2024, including 621 trespassing crimes, 296 death threats or threats of harm, 169 incidents of vandalism, 38 assault and battery incidents, 37 stalking incidents, 17 theft crimes, 13 clinic invasions, three arson attacks, three attempted bombing or arson attacks, one anthrax or bioterrorism threat, and one blockade. 

The report also documented extensive disruption of services, including 128,570 picketers, 3,582 incidents of harassment (suspicious, harassing or threatening calls, mail, email or social media posts), 30 hoax devices/suspicious packages, 12 bomb threats and 777 obstruction incidents.

“Our work has been consistently and regularly disrupted by harassment,” said Jennifer Pepper, president and CEO of CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health, nonprofit reproductive and sexual health clinics in Illinois. “Some protesters scream personal insults at patients, while others set up fake check-in stations to get personal information from patients. Many of our patients travel long distances and across state lines from ban states to access care they need and do not deserve to be greeted this way.”

The actual number of incidents of harassment and violence targeting abortion providers is likely much higher than NAF’s reported numbers because not all abortion clinics are NAF members and not all NAF members submit reports. In addition, providers and clinic staff may not have the resources, staff or capacity to track incidents and make reports.

“Let me be clear: There is nothing peaceful about the kind of protesting behavior we see at our clinic,” said Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyo., and co-owner of Hope Clinic in Washington, D.C. “We have seen extremists try to invade our clinic multiple times in 2023 and 2024, intent on harassing our staff and intimidating our patients.”

According to a recent Abortion Care Network report, 76 brick-and-mortar independent abortion clinics closed between 2022 and 2024—70 percent of which were in the South or Midwest. Antiabortion protests, however, have disrupted services in blue states as well.

“Last year, we tried to open an abortion clinic in Beverly Hills, but our future landlord and the city of Beverly Hills caved to extremist pressure and we lost our lease,” said Matthew Reeves, chief executive officer at the DuPont Clinic. “Antiabortion extremists are relentless, but so are we, and we will not back down.”

NAF’s interactive report compares the violence and disruption that NAF members reported in 2023 and 2024 to the total data NAF has tracked since 1977.

Since 1977, there have been 34,126 crimes reported by abortion clinics, including 11 murders, 26 attempted murders, 4 kidnappings, 570 cases of assault and battery, 781 cases of stalking, 42 bombings, 203 arsons, 109 attempted arsons, 100 Butyric acid attacks, 1,652 death threats/threats of harm, 392 thefts, 489 hoax devices/suspicious packages, 699 bomb threats, 9,648 cases of trespassing, 18,329 obstructions, 1,071 blockades. In addition, there have been 1,023,487 picketers and 33,914 arrests since 1977.

Many of our patients travel long distances and across state lines from ban states to access care they need and do not deserve to be greeted this way.

Jennifer Pepper

“NAF has been compiling incidents of violence and disruption against abortion providers for almost 50 years, and in that time, there has been an organized and relentless campaign of harassment, terror and violence targeting our members,” said Fowler. 

The report features “heat maps” that demonstrate the states where providers reported experiencing the highest levels of obstruction, protesters, threats, and trespassing. The report also includes an audio storyteller map where viewers can click through and hear directly from providers at clinics across the country about their experiences with violence and disruption. 

“We hope our stories help people understand the challenges providers and clinic staff experience every day,” said Burkhart. “However, we will never stop providing the critical care our patients need.” 

NAF reported a spike in major attacks on abortion clinics immediately after Dobbs, including arsons, burglaries and death threats. They believe the decision emboldened antiabortion extremists. 

Recent developments will likely embolden them further. In January, the Trump administration has announced that the Department of Justice does not plan to enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to use force, the threat of force or physical obstruction to prevent individuals from obtaining or providing reproductive health care services.

After FACE was signed into law in 1994, antiabortion violence dropped by 30 percent, and there was an increase in convictions against antiabortion extremists.

In January, DOJ dropped three pending FACE Act cases, and Trump pardoned 23 people convicted under the FACE Act. Many of these people have pledged to resume their violent invasions of clinics.

“My clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina, sees anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 protesters in front of our clinics a year,” said Calla Hales, executive director of A Preferred Women’s Health Center. “In 2024, we experienced a bomb threat that was terrifying and forced us to stop services for a few hours. We fear violence will only get worse this year, and we are already seeing an increase in violence as extremists test what they can get away with under an administration that will not enforce the FACE Act and has pardoned past perpetrators.”

NAF provides security resources to clinics, including 24/7 emergency response, staff preparedness trainings, facility and residential security assessments and law enforcement assistance when desired and appropriate.