Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police imagine an in a single day fire in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to house a brand new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fire early Wednesday that police believe was intentionally set — presumably by somebody seen working away from the constructing carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the building under renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to provide other health care services for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

A person who known as authorities before daybreak saw someone operating from the constructing with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook post. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries were reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The constructing had video cameras that have been functioning, and police got entry to them, she stated.

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents at the future clinic web site, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an house next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in all 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that might immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may happen soon.

Police quickly closed off the road the place the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows have been broken, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.