Politico Playbook | Abortion providers harassed in Mass.
By KELLY GARRITY and LISA KASHINSKY
Story Originally Appeared in Massachusetts Politico Playbook
‘WE ARE ABSOLUTELY CONCERNED’ — Abortion providers across the country faced a “sharp increase” in violence last year, particularly in states that protect access to the procedure, a National Abortion Federation report says.
Clinics saw a rise in arson, invasions, burglaries and death threats in 2022 amid the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, according to NAF’s recently released annual report. There were 218 reports of death threats against providers nationwide, up from 182 in 2021. Instances of patients and providers being stalked rose sharply — up to 92 last year from 28 the year prior.
Meanwhile, incidents of trespassing and assault and battery fell — a drop the federation, a professional association for abortion providers, attributes to clinic closures in states that restricted access to the procedure.
While Massachusetts evaded some of the worst instances of violence documented last year (clinics here reported no arson, stalking, death threats, bomb threats or burglaries), the state’s abortion providers did see one instance of trespassing, 28 pieces of hate mail or harassing calls and more than 1,600 instances of picketing. They also reported four instances of “obstructions” to people seeking abortion care.
“We are absolutely concerned,” Rebecca Hart Holder, the president of Reproductive Equity Now, told Playbook. “No state is immune to extremists of all shapes and sizes, and so we have to be extremely vigilant in protecting providers.”
Still, Massachusetts’ numbers are lower than some other states where abortion is protected. Colorado, for example, saw 12,792 instances of picketing, as well as 15 burglaries and 12 instances of stalking.
Holder believes that’s in part due to the Legislature’s investments in clinic safety. After POLITICO last spring reported the draft Supreme Court opinion that would fell Roe, the Senate added $2 million to the state budget to help bolster security around clinics. Similar funding was proposed for this upcoming fiscal year.
“No one forgets that Massachusetts is a state where there has been abortion violence,” Holder said, referencing the 1994 shootings at two abortion clinics in Brookline that killed two women and injured five other people. “I think there’s a special vigilance here.”
Yet advocates say there’s more the state can do to protect patients and providers, including shielding location data to make sure people aren’t tracked to clinics, increasing access to birth control and lowering the cost of child care.