November 2015
The UUWF joined almost 30 other national women’s and religious organizations, and dozens of physicians, in signing a letter to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the recent attacks on reproductive health clinics as “acts of domestic terrorism.”
Initiated by the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the letter called on the DOJ to investigate the “unprecedented and multi-pronged assault against women’s reproductive rights” — which have followed the release of the first deceptively edited video intended to “vilify Planned Parenthood” — as dangerous acts intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence a government by intimidation or coercion.
Since the release of the videos accusing Planned Parenthood of the illegal and/or unethical practices of collecting fetal tissue for medical research, there have been four attacks at their clinics across the country. There has also been an increase in violent threats to clinics and staff, requiring the need, in some instances, for protective custody.