Abortion rights groups: Treat clinic attack as act of terrorism

COLORADO SPRINGS –  Abortion rights groups are pressuring federal officials to treat Friday's attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic as an act of domestic terrorism.

The pressure comes as many anti-abortion advocates, including those in Congress, react to a series of videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood discussing the sale of tissue and organs from aborted fetuses for profit. Planned Parenthood vehemently denies the allegations, claiming the videos were deceptively edited, and it says women are instead given the opportunity to donate fetal tissue for medical research.

Abortion rights advocates say they've seen a surge in violence and hate speech following the videos' release and called on the FBI and the Justice Department to respond with additional investigative resources and potentially stiffer federal penalties.

"We think it does rise to national importance. This case in Colorado, which is horrific and extreme, mirrors other cases. We're seeing a lot of clinic violence," said Karen  Middleton, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. "When you speak to abortion providers around the country... they are under fear of being assassinated."

Police say Robert Lewis Dear attacked the Colorado Spring's branch of Planned Parenthood on Friday morning, killing three people and wounding nine others before surrendering to a SWAT team. Among the dead is a police officer, the killing of whom could make Dear eligible to face the death penalty under Colorado law if convicted.

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U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Saturday condemned the shooting as an "unconscionable attack" but stopped short of calling it terrorism. Federal prosecutors in Denver are assisting in the investigation against Dear and could also file federal charges.

Congress in 1994 passed a law specifically protecting access to reproductive health clinics, making it illegal to block entrances, intimidate clients or intentionally damage a facility.

Prosecutors have not yet disclosed a motive behind Friday's attack. Media outlets have reported that Dear made a reference to "baby parts" upon his arrest. Abortion rights groups have seized upon that reported language to make their case for heightened federal involvement.

This isn't the first time national abortion rights groups have asked the federal government to take a more active role. On Oct. 15 they launched a petition that's now garnered more than 300,000 signatures. Just hours before the shooting, they also delivered a letter to Lynch calling for a domestic-terrorism designation. They say politicians who are abortion foes are stoking the fires of violence with heated rhetoric directed at a constitutionally protected service.

"Unfortunately we could have predicted this attack," said Ilsye Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "This man went into one clinic with the intention of scaring women all over the country... this is not a random shooting. This was politically motivated and it must be called out as such."

Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf said defining the Colorado Springs attack as domestic terrorism could bring additional federal resources and penalties. He said whether people see it as actual terrorism depends very much on their perspective about abortion and guns.

"It's just a question of what sort of lens to view it through. Among liberals, this is a problem because of access to guns and conservative rhetoric demonizing Planned Parenthood," Dorf said. "For conservatives, this is simply a law enforcement problem ... or possibly a mental health problem."

While politicians across the spectrum have condemned the attack, some conservative lawmakers have suggested that Planned Parenthood's abortion service is to blame.

“Violence is never the answer, but we must start pointing out who is the real culprit. The true instigator of this violence and all violence at any Planned Parenthood facility is Planned Parenthood themselves," Republican Rep. JoAnn Windholz, who represents a suburban area north of Denver, said in a statement posted to Facebook. "Violence begets violence. So Planned Parenthood: YOU STOP THE VIOLENCE INSIDE YOUR WALLS.”

Added the Douglas County Republican Party via Twitter: "Abortionists and Planned Parenthood Shooter Are Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin."