Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police believe an in a single day fire 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 imagine was deliberately set — presumably by someone seen operating away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the building under 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 planned to offer other well being care providers for women, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within 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.

An individual who referred to as authorities before dawn noticed someone operating from the building with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook put up. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or producing a suspect description, police mentioned. 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 have been functioning, and police were given access to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 on the future clinic site, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an house next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that will immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may occur soon.

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