Clinton Administration Deploys Federal Marshals to Abortion Clinics Amid Violence

Strategic Insights -

The Clinton Administration is intensifying its efforts to halt violence at abortion clinics, deploying Federal marshals to about a dozen clinics around the country in response to the shotgun killing of a doctor and his escort outside a clinic in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday and a firebombing that same day at an abortion clinic in Falls Church, Va. The move follows angry demands by lawmakers and abortion rights groups for more aggressive steps to investigate those responsible for violence at clinics. The National Organization for Women sponsored a demonstration outside the Justice Department to demand that officials intervene more forcefully.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Clinton Administration has deployed Federal marshals to about a dozen abortion clinics around the country to provide a temporary law-enforcement presence in response to violence at clinics.
  • The marshals will be patrolling clinics in plainclothes and are expected to provide security, apprehend fugitives, and transport prisoners.
  • The move follows the shotgun killing of a doctor and his escort outside a clinic in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday and a firebombing that same day at an abortion clinic in Falls Church, Va.
  • Abortion rights groups have accused the Federal law-enforcement agencies of a tepid response to anti-abortion violence, with James Wagoner, executive vice president of National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, stating that they "seem to be tentative and hesitant about getting in the middle of this so-called 'abortion fight.'"
  • Attorney General Janet Reno has expressed deep concern about the situation and has ordered subordinates to step up efforts to pursue the possibility that anti-abortion violence is a nationwide, organized criminal activity.
  • The Justice Department will use all the investigative tools at its disposal to protect the clinics, including using the newly enacted clinic access law.

Statistics:

  • About a dozen clinics around the country have been visited by the Federal marshals.
  • The marshals are being deployed to provide temporary law-enforcement presence at clinics.
  • 2 doctors have been killed in anti-abortion violence incidents in Pensacola, Fla., in recent months.
  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation of Paul J. Hill, the suspect in the first shooting, to find out if he had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1993.
  • The investigation was dropped after review by the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department.

Sources:

  • The Associated Press
  • The New York Times
  • Justice Department officials
  • National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League