HotSpots (Security Briefings): November, 2006

Alabama  11/28/06  Stemming from an incident last January, Dalton Ray Skinner pled guilty in U.S. District Court to FACE charges.  Enacted by Congress in 1994, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act makes it a federal crime to use or attempt force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with providers of reproductive health care services or their patients.  Skinner slammed his car into the front entrance of a women’s health center.  Skinner posted bond and is scheduled to be sentenced in February.  He faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000.

Pennsylvania  11/26/06  Two active anti-choice extremists protested outside the homes of a Planned Parenthood provider and an NAF clinic director. 

West Virginia  11/16/06  Jeremy Kiser, 19, pled guilty to threatening to bomb a West Virginia abortion clinic this past June.  He faces up to 10 years in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced February 5, 2007.

Iowa  11/15/06  A protester was arrested and taken to jail for violation of an Order of Protection requiring her to stay a minimum of 25 feet from a Planned Parenthood health center.  Another protester was cited for disorderly conduct when he refused to follow police instructions to not yell directly at the facility.

Connecticut  11/14/06  A Planned Parenthood health center received a mailing containing postcards with anti-choice propaganda and a request to distribute the “postcards” to patients.

Pennsylvania  11/12/06  Planned Parenthood staff learned through a newspaper article of a bomb threat against one of their facilities and an arrest made a week earlier in connection with the threat.  Planned Parenthood had not been advised by the police of the threat or the arrest of Mark Christian Stauffer.  Stauffer allegedely e-mailed the threat to his pastor who notified police and Stauffer was arrested. The investigation is ongoing.  The Planned Parenthood affiliate is following up regarding law enforcement’s failure to notify them of the threat.

California  11/08/06  A Planned Parenthood health center received an envelope delivered by the USPS with Planned Parenthood crossed out and “Planned Murder” inserted.

Texas  11/08/06  The car of an employee of a Planned Parenthood affiliate was hit with a paint ball.

Washington  11/02/06  Protesters at a Planned Parenthood health center set up signs near the driveway obstructing the line of sight for exiting vehicles and threatened a client with what appeared to be a can of mace.  Law enforcement was called.

Pennsylvania  10/26/06  Planned Parenthood health center staff received an explicit written death threat from an inmate at a PA state prison, who claimed he would murder anyone associated with the organization, in concert with other anti-choice extremists.  Law enforcement has been notified, and information continues to be gathered.