Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police imagine an overnight fire in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to accommodate a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a hearth early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — presumably by someone seen operating away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the building beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally deliberate to offer different well being care services for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place within the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for girls to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

A person who known as authorities before dawn noticed someone working from the building with what appeared to be a fuel can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police stated. No accidents have been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re towards 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 supplier 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an residence subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that might instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can happen quickly.

Police temporarily closed off the street where the small building is located as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows have been damaged, and smoke damage was seen around one shattered window.