Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to deal with 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 believe was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen working away from the building carrying what seemed 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 city in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

A person who called authorities before dawn noticed someone working from the constructing with what gave the impression to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook publish. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police said. No injuries have been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 site, and signs opposing abortion have been visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger regulation that might 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 can occur soon.

Police temporarily closed off the road where the small constructing is positioned as officers investigated. A number of of the building's home windows had been damaged, and smoke damage was visible around one shattered window.