After Trump Pardons, Clinic Attackers Plan Further Violence

3.3.25

Click to skip ahead: Eyes on Extremism gives a rundown of all the states that introduced ‘equal protection’ legislation this year.

In the States looks at attacks on ‘exceptions’ in Missouri, West Virginia and Tennessee, the ripple effects of Texas’ ban in Colorado, and moves to expand access for providers and patients in New York and Maryland.

Ballot Measure News reports on a new pro-choice amendment in Delaware.

Censoring Abortion looks at how social media companies are targeting abortion pill providers.

In the Nation has some quick hits.

Attacks on Clinics warns that anti-abortion extremists pardoned by Trump are planning new attacks.

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Eyes on Extremism

With abortion rights more popular than ever, you’d think Republicans might reconsider their bans—or at least soften their stance. Instead, the first months of 2025 have brought a surge in extremism. Even more alarming, that extremism is being normalized.

Republicans in multiple states have introduced bills to prosecute abortion patients for murder, with penalties ranging from life in prison to the death penalty. This push from so-called abortion “abolitionists”—which I warned about in my 2025 predictions—has gone largely unnoticed by mainstream media.

With the exception of an Associated Press article last month, major outlets have barely covered the rise of ‘equal protection’ legislation. That’s largely because these bills are unlikely to pass (at least for now). But as I’ve written before, that doesn’t matter.

The goal isn’t just to legislate; it’s to numb us. Conservatives plan to reintroduce these bills over and over again, hoping our outrage will dull a little more each time. They want their extremism to become routine.

And they’re making headway. ‘Equal protection’ legislation is popping up in more states and gaining Republican support. Georgia’s legislation, for example, has nearly two dozen cosponsors. The bill in Missouri has 68! That’s to say nothing of broader conservative support: In Texas, Republicans’ ‘equal protection’ bill is supported by the Republican Party of Texas Chair, 22 county Republican Party chairs, and others.

In addition to being yet another sign of rising anti-abortion radicalism, these bills are a road map for what Republicans want for all American women. And what they want goes beyond punishing abortion patients.

As Ashley C. Sawyer with Pregnancy Justice told Salon, “These lawmakers are at least positioning their states to put people in jail and potentially prison for their birth outcomes, whether it is a miscarriage, a stillbirth or an abortion.”

Just a few weeks ago, I flagged that Idaho Rep. Brandon Shippy, who introduced an ‘equal protection’ bill, explicitly stated that his legislation would allow law enforcement to investigate people who say they’ve had a miscarriage—but who are suspected of seeking an abortion.

We’ve already seen what that looks like, and it’s not good.

In the interest of tracking extremism, you’ll find a reminder of all the states that have brought ‘equal protection’ bills below. (❌ means the bill has failed.)

The GEORGIA Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 441)

The IDAHO Prenatal Equal Protection Act (SB 1059)

❌ INDIANA HB 1334

IOWA House File 453

❌ The Abolish Abortion KANSAS Act (HB 2171)

KENTUCKY Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 523)

MISSOURI Equal Protection Act (SB 619) & Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 1072)

❌ NORTH DAKOTA Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 1373)

❌ OKLAHOMA Abolition of Abortion Act (SB 456)

SOUTH CAROLINA Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 3537)

TEXAS (HB 2197)

In the States

Since we’re talking about extremism and Republicans’ refusal to budge, let’s talk about ‘exceptions.’ If you’ve been reading for a while, you know these so-called exemptions are designed to be nearly impossible to use—they exist more as PR tools for Republicans who want to seem like they’re softening their stance. But even when the policies are mostly for show, Republicans still don’t want to support them.

Last week, I told you that West Virginia Republicans have been trying to strip the state’s ban of exceptions for rape and incest victims—even for children. In Tennessee, efforts to pass even the narrowest exceptions have stalled. And in Missouri, Republicans are fighting over a proposed constitutional amendment simply because it would allow sexual violence victims to end their pregnancies before the first trimester.

In other words: Don’t let the GOP get away with pretending that they’re ‘reasonable’ or ‘moderate’ on abortion.

Meanwhile, we got a stark reminder this week of how abortion bans ripple beyond state lines: A new study shows that Colorado care suffered after Texas passed its abortion ban.

Axios reports that researchers from Colorado State University found that after Texas passed its ban, the percentage of abortions in Colorado provided to out-of-state patients more than doubled. That surge led to delays in care across the board—pushing more patients into second-trimester procedures.

As the study notes, the consequences aren’t just the delayed procedures themselves, but “increased cost, increased complexity of the procedure, the emotional toll of waiting, and the potential for having the pregnancy revealed.”

All of this reinforces what we’ve seen nationwide—the strain on pro-choice states is real, with impacts on patients and providers.

Speaking of provider overwhelm: New York Democrats are actually trying to do something about it—or at least make things a little better. Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein have introduced the New York State Abortion Clinical Training Program (S1438/A2439A), a bill that would create a state-funded program to address the shortage of abortion providers.

The legislation would establish multiple abortion training sites, develop an abortion-specific curriculum, and would offer travel and lodging grants for trainees. The goal isn’t just to create a program within the state health department, but to secure $10 million from this year’s budget to fund it.

In a Times Union op-ed today, representatives from Medical Students for Choice, New York State Midwives, and CIR-SEIU (a union for resident physicians and fellows) write that the program “would ensure that the next generation of health care providers receives essential training in abortion care.”

“Rights without access are meaningless. If we fail to invest in training, the shortage of abortion providers will only grow, leaving patients—especially those in underserved areas—without the care they need.”

Maryland is taking a similar approach. Lawmakers there have introduced House Bill 930, which would create the Public Health Abortion Grant Program to ensure that abortion patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or lack sufficient abortion coverage can still access care.

“Today, we have the opportunity to invest in the health of residents, improve economic security for our state and to meet the moment with no burden to taxpayers. Abortion is not a luxury, it is health care, and Maryland voters resoundingly agree.”

Remember, Maryland voters overwhelmingly passed an abortion rights amendment in November, one of the few pro-choice ballot measures without restrictive ‘viability’ language.

Quick hits:

• The Associated Press on what’s happening in Wyoming, where the state’s only clinic has paused providing abortions;

• The Tallahassee Democrat on Florida Republicans’ latest attempt to codify fetal personhood;

• GOP leaders in Iowa say legislation to ban all abortions likely won’t move forward;

• And Connecticut has seen a rise in out-of-state abortion patients.

Ballot Measure News

Delaware Democrats have introduced legislation to codify abortion rights in the state constitution. Senate Bill 5 would amend the Delaware constitution to enshrine “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” Unfortunately, the amendment would allow the state to regulate abortion “after fetal viability” unless necessary to protect the “life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.”

Now, Delaware is a pro-choice state that’s been expanding access: The state recently passed a law, for example, requiring health insurance plans—including state-regulated and Medicaid plans—to cover abortion care. Which is great! But enshrining ‘viability’ restrictions in the state constitution is not a step forward.

We’ve seen the consequences of limiting language in pro-choice amendments. Last week in Montana, Republicans used the ‘viability’ standard in a recently passed ballot measure to defend a bill that would allow women who leave the state for abortions to be prosecuted for “trafficking” their own fetuses. And even though Missouri voters passed Amendment 3 in November, people in the state are still waiting on broad access.

That’s why as more states consider pro-choice ballot measures, it’s incredibly important we’re pushing against ‘viability’ language or restrictions of any kind. Not only because it’s the right thing to do—restricting abortions later in pregnancy abandons the most marginalized among us—but because it’s the best strategic move.

Back to Delaware: Legislators debated SB5 for over three hours today, with Republicans either arguing that abortion is wrong or that the law already protects abortion so women don’t have to worry. (Not exactly reassuring.)

I’ll keep you updated as the bill moves forward, but something to know: Delaware is the only state that doesn’t need voter approval to change the state constitution. Instead they require two-thirds of the legislative vote in consecutive sessions.

Censoring Abortion

Abortion, Every Day broke the news back in January that Meta was censoring abortion-related content on Instagram and Facebook. The social media giant blurred posts that shared how to obtain and use abortion medication, and even hid the accounts of groups like Aid Access. Not-so-shockingly, this happened right at the same time that Zuckerberg decided he was besties with Donald Trump.

As I wrote at the time, conservatives figure if they can’t stop abortion providers from dispensing the pills, maybe they can stop patients from finding them. That’s why it’s no surprise that Hey Jane, a telehealth abortion provider, recently reported having its content removed from Meta platforms and its account “shadow banned.”

At the same time, Ohio Right to Life filed a complaint with the state health department over Hey Jane’s expansion into Ohio, claiming the website violates a state law requiring abortion pills to be dispensed in person by a doctor. Conveniently, they ignore the fact that an October court decision cleared the way for telehealth abortion care.

Here’s the thing: Conservatives are well-aware that more Americans are getting abortion medication online—recent #WeCount data shows that about 1 in 5 abortions in the U.S. now happen via telehealth. That’s why they’re ramping up attacks on websites and telehealth providers. In Texas and South Carolina, for example, Republicans have introduced bills that would ban pro-choice websites altogether.

For more on online censorship of abortion and reproductive rights, check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Repro Uncensored coalition.

Abortion censorship isn’t just happening on social media, though—it’s everywhere. Take the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where administrators are blocking the Women and Gender Equity Center from purchasing pregnancy tests unless they take down pro-choice signs in their office.

Jess Fernandez-Erazo, the center’s director, told UNO’s student newspaper that they were even threatened with losing their office entirely if they didn’t comply. And just to be clear: Those pro-choice signs? They’re inside the office, visible only to staff.

You can be sure that similar speech attacks are happening on campuses across the country.

In the Nation

• The Guttmacher Institute’s latest data finds that about 1 in 10 abortions in the U.S. are provided by online-only clinics;

• Mashable has a helpful piece today on how to protect your digital privacy while seeking an abortion;

• US News on how RFK Jr. could impact abortion policy as head of the HHS;

• And the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling against Planned Parenthood.

Attacks on Clinics

In news that should surprise no one, the extremists Donald Trump pardoned for attacking abortion clinics are already planning their next assaults.

POLITICO reports that during a recent online event hosted by the extremist anti-abortion group Live Action, some of those pardoned radicals shared their plans for further violence—and even encouraged others to join them.

Herb Geraghty, one of nearly two dozen extremists pardoned by Trump shortly after his inauguration, urged activists to “get out there, whether it’s outside the clinic or inside, or wherever you need to be to actually prevent unborn children’s lives from being taken.” He told POLITICO, “There’s actual lives being saved every minute you are committing the crime.”

Another pardoned clinic attacker, Jonathan Darnel, suggested that police officers sympathetic to their cause should stand aside and let them assault reproductive health care centers: “If you’re not willing to protect the children yourself, let us do it.”

Not that they have to worry about the cops anyway. The Trump administration has made it clear that the Department of Justice won’t enforce the FACE Act—the federal law protecting abortion clinics—unless someone is killed. And at this year’s March for Life, both Trump and JD Vance reassured anti-abortion activists that they will “never have the government go after them ever again.”

They mean that literally: One clinic was recently informed that the FBI is dropping its investigation into a bomb threat against them and handing the case off to local law enforcement instead.

These extremists know they can attack clinics without consequence—of course they’re planning more violence.