[[link removed]]
BULLETIN: ANTI-ABORTION TERROR STRIKES AGAIN
Emergency Update
Dear John,
It’s happened again.
Melissa Hortman , former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and staunch supporter of reproductive rights, and her husband Mark, were shot and killed in their home on Saturday.
The killer— Vance Boelter —is now in custody. What law enforcement found on him should haunt us all:
A hit list of over 70 names. Other pro-choice state and federal elected officials. Abortion rights advocates. Doctors. Women’s reproductive health clinic addresses. Personal details.
Melissa Hortman was targeted because she fought for us. She was a bold champion of abortion rights. She helped make Minnesota a refuge for reproductive freedom.
And for that, she was hunted.
We’ve seen this before. We’ve lived through it. For nearly 40 years our National Clinic Defense Project has warned about it.
Our National Clinic Defense Project has helped clinics across the country—from Florida to California, Wyoming to New York, Maryland to Mississippi and Texas—and more. Our work has helped reduce bombings, arsons, blockades, and violent harassment. We have recruited thousands of legal observers and clinic defenders. We have worked to improve law enforcement's response to the threats and the violence.
We’ve gone to court—all the way to the Supreme Court—to secure greater protections for clinics and their staff. We’ve provided pro-bono lawyers to clinics when they’ve gone to court—again and again—to secure protections against extremists.
All too often we see the “hit” lists. We share them with law enforcement and warn those targeted. We’ve prevented violent and potentially deadly attacks, and stood firm against the intimating tactics of the extremists. But, sometimes evil slips through:
* In 1991 a masked gunman shot and paralyzed a clinic worker in Springfield, MO, and in Houston, TX, Dr. Karpen was shot and wounded outside his clinic.
* In 1993 , Dr. David Gunn was murdered outside a clinic in Pensacola, FL
* In 1994 , Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard were gunned down by Paul Hill outside another clinic in Pensacola, FL.
* In 1994 , John Salvi shot and killed the receptionists and wounded many more at two different clinics in Brookline, MA before driving to a clinic in Norfolk, VA where he was arrested trying to gain entry.
* In 1998 , a bomb packed with nails exploded at the New Woman, All Women clinic in Birmingham, AL, killing the security guard and maiming a clinic nurse. Eric Robert Rudolph was eventually arrested and convicted, including for three other bombings in Atlanta.
* In 1998 , Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot and killed by a sniper with a high-powered rifle while standing with his wife and children in the kitchen of his home in Amherst, NY.
* In 2009 , Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed by a single gunshot to his head while attending services in his church in Wichita, KS.
* In 2015 , Robert Lewis Dear killed three and injured nine at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO.
* Now, in 2025: Minnesota Representative Melissa Hortman. Her name on a list.
This is terrorism —plain and simple.
And while these killings shook us to our core, this wasn’t even the first blow this year.
Earlier, the Trump Administration pardoned 23 convicted anti-abortion extremists—people who attacked clinics, harassed patients, and violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). Trump called it “his great honor.”
The very next day, the Justice Department announced it would stop prosecuting FACE Act violations —except in so-called “extraordinary” cases.
Three cases already in progress were dismissed . As if the violence never happened.
And now, Trump’s allies in Congress are moving to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act entirely , stripping clinics of their last line of federal protection.
All this, while armed extremists continue to publish lists. While lawmakers and doctors are threatened or gunned down. While women are told they must carry pregnancies regardless of life-threatening consequences.
We are Called to Action.
The Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Clinic Defense Project has protected clinics and doctors for more than 36 years.
We’ve seen the threats. We’ve seen the patterns. We’ve read the hit lists.
And we’re responding by redoubling our efforts :
* We’re coordinating with law enforcement to track new threats
* We’re working with state Attorneys General to strengthen legal protections
* We are expanding clinic security assessments
* We are opposing Congressional Republican efforts to repeal the FACE law which protects clinics, doctors, staff and patients
* We’re expanding volunteer trainings and legal support for clinics to protect access.
And now, in the wake of the Minnesota killings, we must redouble our efforts.
This expanded work is urgent. And it is expensive.
We must raise over $140,000 immediately to fund our work and provide security and protective systems for clinics named in recent threats. We already have a $100,000 matching fund from a generous donor—but we need loyal and committed supporters like you to help us close the gap.
We urge you to donate today to protect clinics and the people who keep them open.
Every tax-deductible gift—large or small—is a shield.
My Emergency Protection Donation ➜ [[link removed]]
When the federal government turns its back, we step forward. When zealots come with guns and manifestos, we come with courage. And numbers. And the law.
We are not backing down. Help us hold the line.
With resolve,
[[link removed]]
Ellie Smeal, President
[[link removed]]
Kathy Spillar, Executive Director
P.S. Clinics are preparing for the next attack. We need to prepare with them. Support clinic security today. Click here to make your Emergency Protection Donation now. [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]]

Feminist Majority Foundation
1600 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 801
Arlington, VA 22209
United States
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please
unsubscribe: [link removed] .