The Feminist Majority Foundation's newly released clinic violence survey found that clinics reported a sharp decline in anti-abortion violence in 1995. This Foundation's annual survey is one of the most comprehensive studies of anti-abortion violence conducted.
The number of clinics reporting incidents of anti-abortion violence -including death threats, stalking, bomb threats, bombings, chemical attacks, blockades, invasions, arson, and arson threats - dropped substantially from 51.9% in 1994 to 38.6% in 1995, according to the annual survey. For the first time, in every category of violence, more clinics in 1995 reported decreases than increases in incidents.
"The good news is that across the board clinics are reporting less violence. The bad news is that a significant proportion of clinics - over one-third - are still plagued by anti-abortion violence, and this violence is dangerously targeted at physicians and clinic staff," said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which conducts the annual clinic violence survey as a part of its National Clinic Defense Project.
Violence directed at individual physicians and clinic staff members continued at high levels, according to the report. Almost one in five clinics (17.1%) reported death threats in 1995; one in five (20.3%) reported home picketing; and one in ten (10.6%) said clinic staff had been stalked. The smallest net decreases in reported incidents of violence were in death threats and stalking.
The report shows violence directed at physicians and clinic staff continues to take its toll. Clinic staff resignations as a result of anti-abortion violence remained at 1994 levels, with almost one in ten (9%) of clinics having lost clinic staff for this reason.
Smeal attributed the overall decline in violence to the intensified enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act by the federal government, along with pro-choice mobilization and vigilance, increased clinic security, and improved local and state law enforcement response to clinic violence. The survey revealed that clinic violence levels correspond directly with law enforcement response. Only 11% of clinics reporting excellent local law enforcement experienced high levels of violence, compared with 33.3% of clinics who reported poor law enforcement response.
"The survey shows the more seriously law enforcement takes threats of violence, the less likely those threats are to turn into actual violence," said Smeal. Local, state, and federal law enforcement officials won higher marks from clinics for their response to anti-abortion violence in the 1995 than in 1994. The greatest improvement in law enforcement response was seen at the local level, where 34.5% of clinics reported enforcement efforts had "improved."
The survey, which covered violence committed during the first seven months of 1995, was completed by 310 clinics, including facilities in 44 states and American Somoa. Almost 95% of these clinics offer a full range of gynecological and other health services in addition to abortion.
