AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — Police are investigating a fire at an anti-abortion center in a Buffalo suburb early Tuesday as a likely arson — one the center’s operators suspect is the work of women’s rights extremists.
The fire was reported at about 3 a.m. and left the building temporarily unusable, CompassCare Chief Executive Jim Harden said.
“Essentially, they firebombed the operation,” Harden said. “They broke the two main windows in the reception area and the nurse’s office and lit the fires.”
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The Amherst police news release announcing the investigation did not include a suspected motive. The FBI declined to comment on whether it was involved in the arson investigation.
该中心在其网站上说，它和其他像它在线面临的其他人在网上和面对面的威胁之后几周意见草案泄漏这表明，美国最高法院可以预先推翻1973年的Landmark Roe诉Wade案，该案件在全国范围内合法化了堕胎。
Last month, the office of a prominent Wisconson anti-abortion lobby group wasdamaged by fireafter two Molotov cocktails were thrown at it. Police said an anti-abortion organization in Salem, Oregon, also recently was damaged by two Molotov cocktails during an unsuccessful break-in attempt.
哈登说，Composscare为妇女提供免费的医疗保健，并鼓励她们寻求替代流产。他说，布法罗办公室每周为约20名患者服务。
Services will resume Wednesday at an undisclosed location, he said. The Rochester-based organization has increased security at its Rochester and Albany locations and plans to install armored glass in the Buffalo office.
哈登（Harden）在新闻发布会上说，大火的破坏者在建筑物上写了“简在这里”。
“This is the face of abortion,” he said. “They’re revealing it to us.”
The fire took place in the same Buffalo suburb where Dr. Barnett Slepian was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in 1998.
That killing followed a period in which Buffalo was ground zero in the nation’s anti-abortion movement, with protesters converging on the city from around the U.S. in an attempt to close clinics down.
纽约州长凯西·霍克尔（Kathy Hochul）上个月宣布abortion providers $35 million扩大服务和提高安全性，以期待最高法院的裁决。除SLEPIAN外，自1993年以来，反对堕胎的狂热者在美国的诊所和医疗保健提供者的袭击中，至少有10人被美国反堕胎狂热者杀害。
哈登说，火灾表明反对堕胎的团体也应得到安全的帮助。
“We haven’t gotten a single dime for security,” Harden said.
In an emailed statement, Hochul’s office said the governor “condemns violence of any kind, and the State Police stand ready to assist local authorities with the investigation.”
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