Harassment and violence have become common outside abortion clinics. Now, providers and others are preparing for a potential increase in violence once the Supreme Court rules in a case that could end Roe v. Wade.
“We know from experience, it’s not like the people protesting clinics in banned states just pack up and go home,” said Melissa Fowler, chief program officer for the National Abortion Federation.
In some places, local police are working with clinics to try to tamp down the potential for violence. In Jacksonville, Florida, the sheriff’s office said last month they would station an officer outside the clinic, and police in Little Rock, Arkansas, installed a camera atop a crane near an abortion clinic that has been the site of protests, hoping to deter bad actors.
But the relationship between clinics and local police isn’t always a positive one, and clinics must weigh whether having a heavy police presence will frighten patients, Fowler said. In Kifferly’s experience, how well clinics and police departments work together varies by city and state. She recalled asking an officer for help as she was assaulted outside the Philadelphia clinic, and the officer responding that she should “call 911.
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