DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
JENNIFER MORROW / FLICKR–CC
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Abortion Federation says threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015. It attributed the surge to the release of undercover videos intended to discredit Planned Parenthood.
According to the federation, death threats targeting abortion providers increased from one in 2014 to 94 in 2015, while incidents of vandalism at clinics rose from 12 to 67.
The most violent occurred in November, when a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people and wounding nine. The man accused in the attack, Robert Dear, has described himself as a “warrior for the babies.”
The abortion federation is alarmed by the heightened hostility and has hired an outside security firm to track online threats.