The FBI director said that since the Dobbs decision in late June, “probably in the neighborhood of 70% of our abortion-related violence cases or threats cases are cases of violence or threats against … pro-life organizations.”
As of Sept. 22, CNA had recorded attacks on 33 churches, 55 pregnancy centers, three political organizations, and one maternity home since early May where the public evidence points to a pro-abortion motive. The crimes include vulgar graffiti, property damage, threats, theft, and even arson.
Peaceful protests, as well as crimes, followed the leak in May of a draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which revealed that Roe v. Wade would be overturned and end a nationwide requirement that states allow legal abortion.
Wray told the Senate hearing that the bodies investigating crimes against pro-life churches and organizations bodies include “about 20 field offices,” he said, as well as joint terrorism task forces. He cited the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, known as the FACE Act, which since 1994 has barred the blocking of access to abortion clinics and places of worship. The Department of Justice has said the legislation also protects pro-life pregnancy centers.
“We take it very seriously,” Wray said. “And again, I don’t care if you’re motivated by pro-life views or pro-choice views. You don’t get to use violence to express it,” he said.
Last month Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate asked why the FBI and the Department of Justice appear to be targeting pro-life people disproportionately under the FACE Act. They contrasted these actions with an apparent lack of investigations or Department of Justice prosecutions related to the rise in violence against pro-life individuals and institutions.
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