On Wednesday, a group of more than 100 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to investigate attacks on pro-life religious organizations and pregnancy centers as domestic terrorism.
“We write to express serious concerns over recent attacks targeting religious organizations and crisis pregnancy centers and request the Department of Justice respond with how its National Security Division plans to investigate these acts of domestic terrorism,” the group wrote.
The group then noted that these types of attacks have surged since a draft Supreme Court’s majority opinion intending to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico. In the draft, Justice Samuel Alito writes that “Roe and Casey must be overruled… Roe was egregiously wrong from the start”
“Since the draft Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health U.S. Supreme Court opinion was leaked on May 2, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court Justices and pro-life advocates have experienced heightened threats and violence,” the group wrote. “In the past month, terrorists have targeted numerous pro-life crisis pregnancy centers — two of which culminated in the firebombing and destruction of property by the terrorist group Jane’s Revenge in Buffalo, NY, and Madison, WI. During the Madison attack, the group directly threatened life and spray painted ‘if abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either’ on the building’s façade.”
The group then listed over a dozen recent attacks on pro-life organizations and added, “As you know, the Department of Homeland Security is anticipating further violence and unrest in the coming months upon the final release of the Dobbs opinion, stating that these threats are ‘likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling’. With this warning made clear, the Department of Justice must act swiftly to investigate and prosecute recent domestic terrorist attacks against pro-life organizations and dissuade future perpetrators of such violence.”
The letter concluded with by asking two questions. First, the letter asked, “Is the Department currently investigating the attacks against the aforementioned groups as instances of domestic terrorism? If not, please provide the rationale behind this decision.”
Second, the letter asked, “What is the Department’s plan to prevent similar attacks from occurring against other pro-life organizations and is the Department currently collaborating with state and local law enforcement to ensure further incidents do not occur?” The group requested answers within 30 days.
