Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an in a single day fire in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to accommodate a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

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

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

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

A person who referred to as authorities before dawn saw somebody working from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook put up. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No accidents had been reported.

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

“Whether you’re towards abortion or assist 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 on the future clinic web site, and signs opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that may immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may occur quickly.

Police temporarily closed off the road the place the small building is positioned as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows have been damaged, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.