Report: Threats against abortion providers have spiked, especially in states like Oregon,...

Threats and acts of violence against abortion providers increased dramatically in 2022, according to data collected each year by the National Abortion Federation, a professional association.

States that continue to offer legal abortions, like Oregon and Washington, had the biggest increases in violence directed at providers and disruptions meant to stop abortions from happening, according to the federation.

“The data is proof of what we have known to be true: anti-abortion extremists have been emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the cascade of abortion bans that followed,” said Melissa Fowler, chief program officer at the National Abortion Federation, in a statement on May 11.

Reports of stalking in states where abortion is legal went up from 8 in 2021 to 81 in 2022. A medical director in the Pacific Northwest, identified only as Dr. B for his safety, told the federation that he had received the most serious death threat of his career two days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed for states to ban abortion. He also reported being followed from work.

More common incidents include hate mail or calls and blocking the entryways to abortion clinics. Nationally, there were 287 reported incidents of protestors obstructing access to abortion services in 2022, up from 45 in 2021. None of those incidents were reported in Oregon or Washington. But providers in those two states reported a total of 1,687 incidents of picketing outside their clinics.