Blog   Blog | Sanctity of Life

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision took the world by storm when it overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. While many of the results of this decision were positive, some of them were not. Over 100 pregnancy resource centers (PRC), churches, and other pro-life organizations have been attacked since the Dobbs decision was leaked on May 2, 2022. Despite these criminal acts, which include firebombing and vandalization, there have been minimal legal repercussions for the parties at fault. Months later, the FBI is taking these attacks seriously and has offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information on the attacks, including one in Lincolnton, North Carolina.

The Attacks

A variety of pro-life organizations across the country were the victims of these attacks, including some in North Carolina. A group known as Jane’s Revenge has claimed responsibility for many of them. This group has been described as, “A revolutionary socialist, anarchist, militant, extremist, abortion rights group that encourages and claims responsibility for acts of firebombing, vandalism, and arson in the United States, targeting crisis pregnancy centers, a church, and a Congressional office.” They are attributed with the highly publicized attack on Mountain Area Pregnancy Services in Asheville, North Carolina.

While Jane’s Revenge has claimed responsibility for many of the attacks, there are also other individuals vandalizing these organizations on their own. For example, on June 25, 2022, someone threw a homemade Molotov cocktail firebomb at the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Lincoln County, a criminal act that violates multiple federal and state laws.

The Response

While the attacks made headlines across the nation, authorities have made little progress in identifying the attackers, which has understandably caused frustration with the leaders of some of the involved PRCs.CompassCare, a PRC in New York, even decided to take matters into their own hands and hired a private investigator to conduct their own investigation. They filed a lawsuit asking a judge to order the police department to provide them with a copy of the footage of the attack. In their complaint, they wrote, “Time is of the essence to commence a civil litigation because the longer time goes by the more likely it will be that those responsible for the firebombing will spoliate other evidence.”  The investigation quickly expanded to look at attacks last year against pro-life organizations across the nation.

Too Little, Too Late?

Finally, on January 19th, 2023, the FBI published a press release announcing a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible for these crimes. This includes the attack at the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Lincoln County.

“Today’s announcement reflects the FBI’s commitment to vigorously pursue investigations into crimes against pregnancy resource centers, faith-based organizations, and reproductive health clinics across the country,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “We will continue to work closely with our national, state, and local law enforcement partners to hold responsible anyone who uses extremist views to justify their criminal actions.”

While this additional effort is essential, the FBI let valuable time pass. Now, we can hope and pray the culprits will be caught and this violence and chaos will end.