John,

In the midst of a patchwork of state laws posing strict restrictions and bans on abortion that come about almost daily, we, like you, are elated with the Kansas voters’ massive outpouring to preserve the constitutional right to abortion in Kansas.

We believe this is just the beginning. The polls are clear. The overwhelming majority of Americans want abortion access to remain safe and legal.

But it is not just the extreme political forces that we must be worried about. A small band of extremists have been terrorizing clinics, doctors, health care workers, and patients nationwide for far too many years.

As people were voting in Kansas, an extremist anti-abortion group, Operation Save America, was trying to close abortion clinics in Nashville, TN during the last week of July. They claimed to law enforcement that the clinics were performing abortions in violation of the state's trigger ban. The ban begins in late August for Tennessee, and the medical care being served was legal.

OSA leadership threatened repeatedly to “only obey God’s law — not man’s law” if law enforcement failed to act and stop abortions from happening. At one of the clinics, three OSA protesters were arrested for trespassing and attempting to invade the clinic. One of the protestors was even carrying a gun.

Our National Clinic Access Project team had prepared for several months for the siege and our legal observers were on the ground in Nashville all week urging the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances federal law be enforced. We are demanding federal intervention by the Department of Justice, because although no one was injured, this is not the end of the threats aimed at the Nashville clinics, and so many other clinics across the country.

Make no mistake. Violence and harassment are a deliberate strategy employed by extremists who are increasing their campaigns to intimidate and ultimately ban abortion nationwide.

With your help, we are working to keep clinics, workers, and patients safe. For more than 33 years, the Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Clinic Access Project has led efforts nationwide to reduce anti-abortion violence, keep clinics open, and bring violent anti-abortion extremists to justice.

Without protecting the security of abortion providers, as well as the ability of clinics to provide legal abortions and birth control, reproductive health care options are decreased.

Please give today. In a democracy, the outcome of political debate must be decided by votes, not bullets.

For equality and justice,

Ellie Smeal

P.S. Extremist groups like OSA will continue to harass women, doctors, and clinics across the country. Your gift today to the National Clinic Access Project will help the Feminist Majority Foundation keep besieged abortion providers safe and open.