Clinic Staff Resignations Decline Substantially;
Resignations Correlate with Law Enforcement Response

In the first seven months of 1996, far fewer clinic staff members quit as a result of anti-abortion violence than in 1995. Only 3.8% of clinics reported staff resignations related to anti-abortion violence and harassment. This finding identifies a major decline from 1994 and 1995 when approximately one in ten clinics experienced staff resignations as a result of anti-abortion violence and 1993 when one-fourth of clinics said they had lost staff members because of fear of violence.

Of the 13 clinics which incurred staff resignations as a result of anti-abortion violence, 3 lost physicians, 2 lost nurses, 3 lost administrators, 3 lost counselors, and 1 lost a lab technician.

Clinic staff resignations correlated with law enforcement response. Of clinics which reported a "poor" response from local law enforcement officials, 19% said they had lost a staff member. Only 6% of clinics which characterized local law enforcement response as "good" reported staff resignations related to violence; only 1.9% of clinics describing local law enforcement response as "excellent" lost staff.

This pattern also was evident for state and federal law enforcement response. Twenty percent of clinics reporting "poor" state law enforcement response lost staff, compared with 1.9% of clinics that termed state response as "good" and 2.4% that said state response was "excellent." Staff members quit at 20% of clinics that experienced "poor" federal law enforcement response, while only 3.4% of clinics that said federal response was "good" and 1.9% that termed federal response "excellent" lost staff.

| Methodology | Key Findings |
| Severe Violence Still Plagues Almost One-Third of Clinics |
| Violence Directed at Clinic Facilities Increases |
| Clinic Staff Resignations Decline Substantially |
| Reports of FACE Violations Decrease |
| Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Response Diminished |
| Law Enforcement Response Related to Violence Levels |
| Buffer Zones Reduce Clinic Violence |
| Less Than Half of Clinics Won Legal Remedies Sought |
| Clinics Enthusiastic About Medical Abortion |
| Conclusions | Appendix A | Appendix B | Table of Contents |

Copyright 2000, The Feminist Majority Foundation and New Media Publishing Inc.