Federal Marshals Abandon Doctor Targeted by Anti-Abortion Extremists

Despite mounting threats to the clinic--and potentially to the life--of Nebraska Dr. Leroy Carhart, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed the federal marshals earlier charged with protecting him.

Dr. Carhart lost his federal marshal protection two weeks ago, much to the alarm of pro-choice leaders, leaving him vulnerable at a time when anti-choice violence has been escalating across the country, and when Carhart himself has been openly targeted by groups such as Operation Rescue, which is calling for protests at his clinic later this month.  In addition, members of the Army of God, an organization that promotes the use of violence against providers of abortion care, and glorifies those who commit acts of murder, are also targetting Dr. Carhart. 

Women's rights and health groups are now working strenuously to get the DOJ to restore protection by federal marshals for Dr. Carhart and to urge the DOJ and the FBI to investigate Tiller's murder and other strategies used by these groups as part of a pattern of domestic terrorism.

Officials at the Department of Justice could not be reached for comment this weekend.  RH Reality Check will be following up with them on Monday, August 10th.

Dr. Carhart is a medical doctor who provides, among other services, late abortion care to women whose lives and health are endangered by their pregnancies, or whose fetuses have been determined to have catastrophic anomalies incompatible with life.  He was a colleague of Dr. Tiller's, who was assassinated by Roeder in the lobby of his church on May 31st, 2009. 

Roeder was in touch with an Operation Rescue staffer, Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor, whose number was found in his car, and who provided him with information on the whereabouts of Dr. Tiller on various occasions.  The Army of God called Roeder an "American Hero," stating George Tiller "reaped what he sowed and is now in eternal hell." The Army of God website lauds other such "heroes" as Paul Hill (who killed reproductive health physician Dr. John Britton and his volunteer escort in Florida in 1994, and who was executed by lethal injection in 2003), and Eric Rudolph, who attributed his attacks on women's clinics in Georgia and Alabama in 1997 and 1998, and on an Atlanta nightclub in 1997 serving a lesbian clientele to "the legalization of abortion and 'aberrant sexual behavior.'" Rudolph, who claimed the bombings in the name of the Army of God, has said he feels "no regret or remorse" for the killing of one person and the wounding of at least 11 others. Feminist Majority Foundation has documented terrorist attacks against providers in a comprehensive document.

Alarm at Lack of Protection and Lack of Action by Gov't Agencies

Reproductive health groups are "deeply alarmed" by the removal of U.S. Marshals from Dr. Carhart and several other providers across the country over the past several weeks, especially so soon after the murder of Dr. Tiller and during a time when violence against medical professionals and staffs of women's health clinics is on the rise.  "We are working to restore marshal protection to Dr. Carhart right away," according to Kathy Spillar, Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF). 

Indeed, shortly after being arrested, Roeder himself told the AP that he anticipated further violence:

"I know there are many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal," Roeder said. When asked by the AP what he meant and if he was referring to another shooting, he refused to elaborate further

A number of groups, including FMF, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the National Abortion Federation (NAF), are also deeply concerned that the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have previously failed to take a comprehensive approach to investigating crimes like that committed by Roeder and others as part of a pattern of domestic terrorism. They are urging the FBI and the DOJ to broaden their investigations into the networks of extremist individuals and groups that may have been involved in the murder and other acts of violence against providers of abortion care.