A Buffalo pro-life pregnancy center that was firebombed and vandalized by pro-abortion extremist group Jane’s Revenge in June has re-opened its doors to patients after rebuilding for 52 days and incurring over $100,000 in new security expenses.
After the arson attack against Compass Care in Buffalo, N.Y., Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility in an online memorandum. It also threatened to unleash a rampage of violence against pro-life clinics nationwide following the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
The day after it was firebombed, Compass Care relocated so it could continue offering its services to distressed pregnant women, CEO Jim Harden told National Review. “This is the generosity of the people of Buffalo; we were offered three different alternate locations,” he says. The one he settled on was left undisclosed for safety reasons.
While the organization’s Buffalo operation, which Harden claims doesn’t receive a “dime of state or federal money,” quickly repaired the damage and rebounded, it’s in a financially disadvantaged position now. The center had to implement all kinds of expensive security measures, including armed guards at the undisclosed location and a secured perimeter and entry points, he says.
“Security alone at all three of our sites has cost $150,000 this year. In the next budget it will probably cost us an additional $80,000 every year,” he adds. Harden even had to temporarily move his family due to doxxing from pro-abortion activists.
Meanwhile, the perpetrators of the attack have still not been caught, he says. The Amherst Police Department released a statement Monday, the day of Compass Care’s re-groundbreaking ceremony, saying that it is still collaborating with the “FBI and other Federal Agencies to bring this case to resolve.” Law enforcement is examining and following multiple leads, Amherst police said.
Just six days after Jane’s Revenge attacked Compass Care, Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to investigate the state’s pro-life pregnancy centers that offer an alternative to abortion, maternity care, diagnostic pregnancy services, abortion pill reversal, and post-abortion medical and emotional support.
Sponsored by State Senator Brad Holyman, the bill “directs the Commissioner of Health to study and report on unlicensed, often misleading facilities that offer pregnancy-related services but don’t provide or refer for comprehensive reproductive healthcare.” He claimed that such centers “are often more interested in pushing their own agenda than doing what’s best for their patient’s health, and they waste precious time for pregnant people who may consider abortion.”
Harden said Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James were invited to Compass Care’s re-opening ceremony but did not respond. In July, Hochul announced that $10 million would be awarded to 63 for-profit abortion clinics in the state for maintaining their businesses and security.
“They got the funding, despite the fact that we’re getting the threats,” he says. “Pro-abortion politicians like Hochul are fomenting this violence. But when we’re attacked, they’re not attacking Compass Care or pregnancy centers. They’re attacking women and the care that they need in their moment of crisis.”
Reporting from National Review.
