VIOLENCE AT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Extremist anti-abortion activists have waged an ongoing campaign of violence and terror against abortion providers, clinic staff, their patients, and their families, forcing them to face a continual assault of intimidation, harassment, and violence. It is estimated that, since 1977, there have been more than 4,000 acts of violence against abortion providers, including: 41 bombings; 168 arsons; more than 80 attempted bombings or arson; more than 500 incidents of trespass; more than 650 anthrax threats; and more than 1000 incidents of vandalism. The extent of the violence has escalated over time; in 1993, the first anti-abortion murder was committed (when an anti-abortion extremist shot and killed Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider in Pensacola, Florida); since this time, six other abortion providers and clinic staff have been killed, and 17 have survived attempted murder. Clinic staff and patients have reported over 450 incidents of stalking and over 350 death threats. Given the fact that in 2000, only 1,189 providers performed at least one abortion, and only 25% of those providers work in abortion clinics, these crime statistics attest to the very widespread effects of the violent campaign launched by anti-choice extremists.
In addition to acts of violence, abortion providers and clinic staff face a continual onslaught of threats and intimidation. Over the past 25 years, clinics have reported over 79,000 incidents of harassment, bomb threats, hate mail, threatening phone calls, suspicious package delivery, and disruptive picketing. Clinics have also experienced 680 blockades, in which anti-abortion protesters physically and completely block access to the clinics, preventing patients from entering and subjecting them to further intimidation and harassment.
FEDERAL AND STATE FACE LAWS
In response to Dr. Gunn’s murder—and the twelve arsons, one bombing, and 66 blockades committed against abortion clinics that same year—Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which President Clinton signed into law in 1994. The federal law imposes criminal and civil penalties on anyone who uses "force, threat of force or physical obstruction" to prevent a person from providing or receiving reproductive health services. Every federal appellate court to address the issue has upheld the act, and fifteen states and the District of Columbia have also since passed clinic access laws making it a state crime to obstruct access to clinics:
California
Series of laws prohibiting individuals from intentionally detaining others or obstructing them from entering or exiting clinic ; igniting explosive or committing arson at a health care facility, abortion clinic, or office where a meeting regarding abortion policies or practices is taking place ; and willfully and maliciously damaging a structure with butyric acid or similar substance. The Reproductive Rights Law Enforcement Act requires the state attorney general to collect and analyze information relating to anti-reproductive rights crimes and to develop plans to prevent, apprehend, prosecute, and report such crimes; it also provides police training on anti-reproductive rights crimes. A law creating the Address Confidentiality for Reproductive Health Care Service Providers, Employees, Volunteers, and Patients program, which authorizes state and local agencies to withhold personal address information from public records if the providers, employees, and patients become certified by the state to participate in the confidentiality program.
Connecticut
Imposes criminal and civil penalties on a person who uses force or the threat of force to deprive a person of equal protection of state and federal laws or of equal privileges and immunities under state and federal law; the legislative history of the law indicates that it was designed to protect clinic access.
