Increase in Threats Reported at US Abortion Clinics

April 6, 2016

(Associated Press) – Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit Planned Parenthood. “In my more than 20 years with NAF, I have not seen such an escalation of hate speech, threats and calls to action against abortion providers,” said Vicki Saporta, the federation’s CEO. According to the federation, death threats targeting abortion providers increased from one in 2014 to 94 in 2015, while incidents of vandalism at clinics rose from 12 to 67.