At 9:05 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, a group of anti-abortion extremists from at least six states forced their way into the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a facility that provides abortion care in Washington, D.C. Some bound themselves together with chains, ropes and bike locks to block access to the clinic’s patient area. Others obstructed access to its employee entrance. Several used their bodies to try to prevent patients from entering the facility. Still more moved about assaulting patients—mostly verbally, but in one case physically—in the waiting room, a hallway and even in the small elevators leading to the fourth-floor clinic. 

So begins investigative reporter Amanda Robb’s alarming account of a violent attack on an abortion clinic in the nation’s capital.

Her article reveals, for the first time, how a clinic invasion was planned and executed—piecing together court testimony, FBI agents’ forensic analysis of the social media and cell phone records, footage obtained from the clinic’s security cameras and responding police officers’ body cameras, as well as the extremists’ own Facebook livestream.

You’ll want to get this issue to follow what happens when nine extremists are charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, as well as felony conspiracy charges. As Robb wrote, this additional charge “affirms what abortion rights advocates have documented and tried to bring to authorities’ attention for decades: Anti-abortion extremists—including its most violent actors—are connected and coordinated.” 

Here’s a glimpse at what else you’ll find within the pages of the upcoming Winter issue:

• From rape threats and misogynistic slurs to sexual harassment and doxing—a Ms. report on how online abuse is used to intimidate, discredit and silence people, and what all of us can do about it.
• The first step to stopping gender apartheid: Women activists in Afghanistan and Iran are calling on the international community to “name, describe and proscribe” this crime against humanity.
• ‘Women, Life, Freedom’: an excerpt from the new book by Iranian human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh gives her firsthand account of how women suffer under gender apartheid.
• Watch and weep—Ms.’ television critic picks the top 10 most disappointing series cancellations of 2023. 

When you become a member of Ms., you get the magazine in print or on our app, or both and you’re the first to get information alerts and event invitations from our team. When you become a member, you’re supporting independent, feminist media—and becoming part of a global community of feminists who care about the issues that matter to you.

Join today to get our newest issue delivered straight to your mailbox—and fuel another year of our reporting, rebelling and truth-telling.

For equality,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor

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