Problem Pregnancy and Clearway Clinic vandalized

Maria LeDoux
The Catholic Free Press
 

Problem Pregnancy of Worcester Inc., 495 Pleasant St., and Clearway Clinic, 358 Shrewsbury St., two crisis pregnancy centers in Worcester, were vandalized in the early morning of July 7. 
Problem Pregnancy’s building was defaced with blue and yellow spray paint on its roof, windows, and parking area. The name “Jane’s Revenge” was spray-painted in red on the walkway in front of the building. Problem Pregnancy sits across the street from Planned Parenthood's Central Massachusetts Health Center, where abortions are performed.  
Clearway Clinic was similarly vandalized with three broken windows, two shattered front doors, and, in the same fashion, the signature “Jane’s Revenge” was spray-painted on the walkway outside the building. 
Problem Pregnancy and Clearway Clinic provide assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies. Their services include pregnancy tests, obstetric ultrasounds, abortion consultations providing support for those who have had an abortion, and connecting women with community resources. In addition, Clearway Clinic also provides testing for sexually transmitted infections. The services provided by both are free. 
Following the leak of the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in early May and the Supreme Court ruling June 24 that struck down Roe v. Wade, vandalism to crisis pregnancy centers has occurred on numerous occasions across the nation, according to media reports. Pro-life pregnancy centers have come under attack since early May, with the words “Jane’s revenge,” or something similar, being left at the site of the vandalism. In recent months, many churches, especially Catholic ones, have also come under attack.
Problem Pregnancy has been helping pregnant women for nearly 40 years. It opened its first office in December 1982 down the corridor from the newly opened Planned Parenthood “reproductive health care clinic” at 340 Main St., Worcester. At the time, Planned Parenthood performed abortions two days a week. 
Problem Pregnancy’s website encourages those interested to contact them to learn about all their options when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. It states, “The choice is yours.” 
A statement released Thursday by Kelly Wilcox, executive director of Clearway Clinic, expressed sadness that there were “misunderstandings” about what the center does that may have led to vandalism. 
Ms. Wilcox stated that the clinic has served more than 10,000 families and all women are welcome in the clinic “regardless of what they ultimately decide to do ... We are a state-licensed medical clinic with a team of board-certified doctors and nurses that provides free healthcare to women in Central and Western Massachusetts. Our center is committed to 100 percent transparency in all marketing practices and patient interactions. We do not provide or refer for abortions and we are careful to disclose this fact before setting up any appointments.” Clearway Clinic, she said, is committed to treating “every person with the highest standard of care and excellence.” 
According to the statement, Clearway Clinic “calls on” officials in Massachusetts to “condemn the domestic terrorist attack” and that violence only harms the people who rely on the clinic when they are in need.
“We were attacked. The police are aware. The FBI is aware and are very watchful,” Roderick P. Murphy, director of Problem Pregnancy, told The Catholic Free Press. 
“We are committed to continuing our mission of serving women in our community,” said Ms. Wilcox. 
Due to the frequency, geographical spread of the attacks throughout the nation, and the nature of the unlawful actions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken special interest in who is behind these crimes, according to a person close to the investigation. 
On May 30, a group calling itself Jane’s Revenge released a call to action called “Night of Rage,” in which they called for people to “come out after dark” and “make your anger known” on the night of the Dobbs decision, according to Catholic News Agency, a service of EWTN media.
The National Catholic Register described the group Jane’s Revenge as an anarchist, extremist group in favor of abortion rights. The group has taken responsibility for instances of vandalism, firebombing and arson targeting crisis pregnancy centers and a campaign office for representative Tim Walberg, a republican from Michigan.
A letter dated June 14, sent to the anonymous blogging site noblogs.org by a group claiming to be Jane’s Revenge, exclaimed how “fun” it is to attack, and threatened, “to take increasingly drastic measures against oppressive infrastructures. Rest assured that we will, and those measures may not come in the form of something so easily cleaned up as fire and graffiti.”  
The letter on the blogging site said, “Everyone with the urge to paint, to burn, to cut, to jam: now is the time. Go forth and manifest the things you wish to see.”