U.S. Warns Abortion Clinics of Danger Jan. 20-22

The federal government has warned abortion clinics to increase precautions against attacks Jan. 20-22, saying violence may be linked to the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and to President Reagan’s inauguration, a spokesman said Friday.

Tom Hill, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said ATF warned the National Abortion Federation in a Dec. 28 letter that abortion clinics “should be aware of their security measures.”

The federation, which serves as a Washington representative for abortion centers, said it relayed the warning to its 300 members and other groups that support abortion rights.

Abortion groups are taking the warning seriously, and the National Organization for Women is planning a vigil at 20 to 30 abortion clinics across the country Jan. 18-22 to discourage attacks. NOW members said anti-abortion forces have gone to “extraordinary lengths” to avoid attacking clinics with persons inside.

“This is by far the most serious warning we have received,” said Barbara Radford, executive director for the abortion federation.

Federal officials gave no indication in the warning that they had any knowledge of specific planned attacks. Hill downplayed the importance of the warning, saying: “It was just the symbolism of the dates” that prompted the letter.

But officials said the three-day period cited in the letter, which begins with the start of Reagan’s second term Jan. 20, is a particularly likely time for such attacks. Reagan, who is a strong opponent of abortion but has condemned the abortion-clinic bombings as the work of anarchists, will be privately inaugurated Jan. 20 and publicly inaugurated Jan. 21.

A day later is the 12th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion.

Jan. 22 also is the anniversary of the death of “Christian martyr St. Anastasious,” the ATF said. The federal notice said someone using the name “Anastasious II” mailed a threatening letter to an abortion-rights advocate in 1984, and a bombing on the anniversary of his death could have symbolic significance for anti-abortion forces.

Federal authorities say there have been 30 incidents involving bombings and arson at abortion clinics since May, 1982, including 24 last year alone.