Clinic Violence Timeline

Stop Clinic Violence [t-shirt], circa 1994,
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1973 (January 22) Supreme Court decisions announced: Roe v. Wade – legalizes abortion in all 50 states; Doe v. Bolton strikes down restrictions on facilities that could be used to perform abortions, opening way for clinics.
(May 14) National Right to Life Committee is incorporated.
1974 (June) first injunction in US barring protesters from coming on to property or blocking doorways at Northern Virginia Women’s Medical Center in Fairfax.
1975 Six women protesters are arrested for first sit-in at abortion clinic in Rockville, Maryland.
1977 First reported arson of an abortion clinic – Planned Parenthood of St. Paul, Minnesota.
1978 First known bombing of abortion clinic, Women for Women, in Cincinnati, Ohio, causing $3,000 in damages.
1982 (August) Three men identifying themselves as members of the Army of God kidnap Hector Zevallos (a doctor and clinic owner) and his wife, Rosalee Jean, holding them for eight days.
1983 (May 26) Joseph Grace sets the Hillcrest clinic in Norfolk, Virginia ablaze. He is arrested while sleeping in his van a few blocks from the clinic.
1984 (May 12) Two men force their way into a Birmingham, Alabama clinic on Mother’s Day weekend and cause between $7,500 and $8,500 of damage to suction equipment. One of the attackers is later identified as Father Edward Markley, a Benedictine priest who is the Birmingham diocesan “Coordinator for Pro-Life Activities.” Markley is convicted of first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree burglary. His accomplice is never identified.
(June 15) A month after he destroyed suction equipment at a Birmingham clinic, Father Edward Markley enters the Women’s Community Health Center in Huntsville, Alabama, assaulting at least three clinic workers. Markley is convicted of first-degree criminal mischief, one count of third-degree assault, and one count of harassment.
(December 25) An abortion clinic and two physicians’ offices in Pensacola, Florida, are bombed in the early morning of Christmas Day by Matt Goldsby, Jimmy Simmons, Kathy Simmons, Kaye Wiggins. The clinic, the Ladies Center, is later be the site of the 1994 murder of Dr. John Britton and James Barrett and a 2012 firebombing.
1985 Kevin Sherlock and Operation Rescue publish “Abortion Busters” manual, providing instructions on doctor harassment.
Joseph Scheidler publishes “Closed: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion,” advocating doctor harassment.
A shot is fired into the home of Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmum, author of Roe v. Wade.
1986 (June) National Women’s Health Organization begins 13-year legal battle against Joseph Scheidler and Pro-Life Action League, charging them with conspiring to shut clinics in violation of anti-racketeering act RICO.
(Fall) first buffer zone law passed in Boulder, Colorado: protesters must stay eight feet from patients.
Operation Rescue forms in Binghamton, New York, headed by Randall Terry.
1987 (July 27) Eight members of the Bible Missionary Fellowship, a fundamentalist church in Santee, California, attempt to bomb the Alvarado Medical Center abortion clinic.
1988 (July/Aug) Operation Rescue blockades clinics in Atlanta during the Democratic Convention. 235 arrests are made.
1989 (July 1) “Interference with Access to Medical Facility” law goes into effect in Maryland.
(July 3) A fire is started at the Feminist Health Center clinic in Concord NH on the day U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Missouri law banning funding of public facilities as related to abortion. The clinic is set afire again in 2000.
1992 Mark Crutcher founds Life Dynamics Inc. in Denton Texas.”The 800 Club” project distributes over 200 toll-free numbers of providers to anti-abortion activists so they can tie up phone lines.
1993 Life Dynamics Inc. of Texas mails 961 “Project Choice” surveys to abortion providers. The surveys are supposedly designed to catalog harassment of doctors, but are later used to target and attack doctors.
(March 10) Doctor David Gunn is murdered outside Pensacola Medical Services in Florida. Michael Griffin is arrested at the scene.

(March 29) Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, Montana is firebombed.
(June 9) A Defensive Action Statement, sponsored by Paul Hill, is signed by 30 anti-choice leaders, saying killing doctors is justifiable homicide.
(August 19) Dr. George Tiller is shot outside an abortion facility in Wichita, Kansas. Shelley Shannon is charged with the crime and receives an 11-year prison sentence (20 years are later added for arson and acid attacks on clinics).
1994 NOW v. Scheidler – Supreme Court allows anti-abortionists to be charged under federal RICO act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) for conspiring to close abortion clinics through organized criminal activity.
(May 26) federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) is enacted by President Clinton. The Act prohibits the use of force, threats, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with someone trying to obtain or provide an abortion, or which results in property destruction.
(June 30) In Madsen v. Women’s Center Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court says judges may create buffer zones to keep pro-life demonstrators away from abortion clinics.
(July 29) Dr. John Britton and James Barrett are shot in the same attack at the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, FL. James Barrett’s wife, June is also injured. Paul Hill is arrested, and is later executed for his crimes.
Extremist pro-violence group American Coalition of Life Activists forms. Its first national event takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, on Aug 7.
Michael Bray publishes “A Time to Kill” using the Bible to advocate violence and praising clinic terrorists as heroes.
1996 (December 18) Dr. Calvin Jackson of New Orleans, Louisiana is stabbed 15 times. Donald Cooper is charged with second degree attempted murder and is sentenced to 20 years.
1997 Nuremberg Files website appears for the first time. Run by Neal Horsley, it lists names and personal information of providers and other pro-choice supporters, so they can be prosecuted for “crimes against humanity” when abortion is outlawed.
(Jan 16) Atlanta Northside Family Planning Services clinic in Georgia is bombed (twice within one hour). Rescue workers and bystanders are injured in 2^nd blast. Eric Rudolph is later implicated.
(October 28) Dr. David Gandell of Rochester, New York is injured by flying glass when a shot is fired through the window of his home.
1998 (May) “fictional” article by David Maccabee published on the internet targets 11 doctors for death by Army of God.
Dr. Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician and gynecologist who endured protests and harassment for years, is shot and killed by a single bullet fired through his kitchen window in Amherst, NY.
1999 Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists: A federal jury in Oregon rules that the Neal Horsley’s Nuremberg Files website and Wanted Posters of abortion doctors constitute threats. As part of the judgment, Horsley is required to take down his site.
(July 16) NOW wins permanent, nation-wide injunction against violent anti-abortionists under RICO act. Defendants are Operation rescue, Pro-Life Action network, Joseph Scheidler and his Pro-Life Action League.
(Dec 31) Pro-violence group Advocates for Life Ministries closes down because of financial difficulties from lawsuits.
2001 (late may) Nuremberg Files website starts Webcam, publishing photographs of patients and staff at clinics.
(Oct 14) California Governor signs FACE Act into law, making attacks and threats of violence against clinics and clinic workers a state crime. The law also requires more training for law enforcement on clinic violence and how to guard against it.
2009 Dr. George Tiller is murdered at his church in Wichita, Kansas. Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder is sentenced to life in prison.
January 1, 2012 Boby Joe Rogers firebombed the American Family Planning Clinic in Pensacola, Florida. This was the same site, John Britton 1984 and James Barrett 1994 were murdered.
October 3-4, 2013 Jebediah Stout attempted to set Planned Parenthood clinic in Joplin, Missouri on fire two days in a row.
November 27, 2015 Robert L. Dear shot and killed three and injured several others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suspect had previously acted against other clinics and referred to himself as a “warrior for the babies” at his hearing. Neighbors and former neighbors described the suspect as “reclusive”, and police from several states where the suspect resided described a history of run-ins dating from at least 1997.
March 7, 2016 Rachel Ann Jackson vandalized Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbus, Ohio with “Satan den of baby killers
February 10, 2019 Wesley BrianKaster threw a molotov cocktail at the Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri even though they were not providing abortions due to a state law.
October 10, 2020 a man threw molotov cocktails at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Fort Myers, Florida.
January 23, 2021 a man fired a shotgun at a Tennessee Planned Parenthood clinic, no one was hurt.
November 23, 2021 Devin Kruse destroyed several windows and security cameras at a Planned Parenthood in Grants Pass, Oregon.
December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve, a fire destroyed a Planned Parenthood in Knoxville, Tennessee. The building was closed at the time for renovations. The Knoxville Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ruled the fire arson. The clinic had previously been shot at in January of the same year. In October 2022, federal court documents identified the arsonist as Mark Thomas Reno, who previously attacked the clinic in January and was present at the January 6 Capitol attack. Reno died on August 15, 2022.
March 13, 2022: Two people threw a Molotov cocktail at a medical building used by Planned Parenthood in Costa Mesa, California.
May 25, 2022: A masked woman set a fire at a planned abortion clinic in Casper, Wyoming. The ATF offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.
July 31, 2022: A man set a Planned Parenthood building on fire in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A suspect was charged with arson of an organization receiving federal funding. According to investigators the suspect posted videos on YouTube railing against abortion and other topics.
January 15, 2023: An arsonist set a Planned Parenthood in Peoria, Illinois on fire. The fire came days after Illinois passed a law protecting abortion rights.