Arsonist Burns Planned Parenthood Building As War On Women Burns On

The Pullman (WA) Fire Department and the Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force have determined that arson was the cause for a fire that burned a Planned Parenthood health center early Friday morning. The blaze was set at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, and the structural damage from the fire was substantial. The facility may be closed for a month or longer, according to Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Tanya Riordan.

This apparent terrorist attack comes amidst a growing wave of death threats against Planned Parenthood employees and other health professionals, who provide abortion or contraceptive services nationwide. While an exact motive for the arson has not been determined, the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are involved in the investigation, because of the long history of domestic terrorists targeting facilities that provide reproductive services for women.

The Pullman Planned Parenthood health center did not perform abortions, although they sometimes gave abortion referrals for clients.

Karl Eastlund, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, issued a statement that read:


Anti-choice terrorists seem to be escalating their war on women, emboldened by a string of heavily edited videos, that falsely portray Planned Parenthood as an organization that profits from abortion. Attacks on women’s health clinics, however, are nothing new to the region, as the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest have been targeted by violent right-wing activists a number of times.

In 1996, four White supremacists bombed a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Spokane Valley. From 1992 to 1997, anti-choice terrorist Richard Andrews burned at least eight women’s health clinics in several states, leaving a trail of destruction that stretched from Central Montana to Northern California.

While nobody was directly injured in the Pullman fire, the targeting of women’s health facilities is clearly an act of aggression, designed to intimidate women and to deny them access to contraceptive and abortion services. The arsonist who struck the Pullman facility is not in custody, so the exact motives of the attack are still unknown. However, it seems almost certain, given the existing political climate and the region’s history of domestic terrorism, that the decision to set the Planned Parenthood building ablaze was a political act.

Interestingly, while Republican leaders have been issuing statement after statement condemning the jailing of anti-gay Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, they have been conspicuously silent about condemning the burning of a woman’s health care center in Washington State. That speaks volumes about where their priorities lie.

14 Replies to “Arsonist Burns Planned Parenthood Building As War On Women Burns On”

  1. I hope they find the miscreants who did this and lock them up for life. Nip it in the bud, make an example of them.

    This is how it starts. First Planned Parenthood, next it will be you are not a Christian, or you are not white, or you are not straight.

    This country has been made toxic by the Right.

  2. Why does it seem RW extremists seem to get away with breaking our laws? It’s blatant ….
    Their hatred of freedom from religion, freedom of choice, and POC is escalating. All within the last month. I’m also starting to see high school boys pick ups with confederate flags all over them……please FBI, DHS stop this now.

  3. The people who do these things seem oblivious that they are putting “christians” in danger. They are starting a war of attrition that they will lose. When we have had enough, look out!

  4. Hillary was right, she called them terrorists and that is exactly what they are. They are fake Christians, nothing religious about them. Just plain sadistic terrorists. We far outnumber them, so they should not be looking for a war with the rest of us. They will be trounced to bits. We have about had enough and will start fighting back. How would they like it if their churches started to burn down?

  5. …the Jews call their kind “Zealots”…people so caught up in THEIR version of thier religion that they don’t think ANY law applies to them…
    …they need to be met with armed REAL people who will shoot to kill…they won’t be firing warning shots…neither should we…

  6. Yes, the country’s biggest enemy is fox news. They’ve promoted every evil thing that’s taken place in the last 20 years.

    Republicans are so out of touch that without fox news they wouldn’t even have a voice in real news.

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