Texas Abortion Facility Subject of Bomb Scare, Pro-Life Group Responds 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 27, 2007
Austin, TX (LifeNews.com) — A Texas abortion business was the subject of a bomb scare this week as someone left a duffle bag containing explosives in the parking lot of the Austin Women’s Health Center abortion facility. The action came just a week after the Supreme Court handed down its decision upholding the partial-birth abortion ban.
Following the ruling, the National Abortion Federation, a trade group for abortion businesses, says it put out an alert to its members warning of possible violence.
In comments to News 8 in Austin, local police would not say that the abortion center had been the target but abortion advocates were quick to tell the media that pro-life people are violent extremists.
"We live in fear of anti-choice extremism," local Planned Parenthood CEO Ken Lambrecht told News 8. "We perform routine quarterly drills for bomb threats. We had one this very week, and our clinic is constantly aware of a potential threat."
But Texas Alliance for Life director Joe Pojman said that pro-life advocates are peaceful people and that any political movement has individual vigilantes that act on their own wrongheaded ideas.
"We get painted with the same brush as someone who is a criminal. We only condone peaceful legal activities," he said.
Pojman pointed to the activities of groups like the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center and its various pregnancy resource centers across the city that help pregnant women in need.
"There are about 14 or 15 in the greater Austin area. All their services are free. They want to help pregnant women who don’t feel they want to have an abortion," Pojman said.
An employee of the abortion center found the bag with the explosives and the FBI has said it was not a prank.
"What we have concluded at this point is that the device that we examined was in fact an explosive device. It was also configured in such a way to have caused serious bodily injury or death," said Asst. Chief David Carter, of the local police department.
Officials did not say whether they had identified any suspects.
