Early Wednesday morning, Julie Burkhart received a call she never thought she would get. The building where Wellspring Health Access is located was set on fire. Police went to the scene and extinguished it, but great damage was caused by smoke.
Burkhart is the founder of Wellspring Health Access, a non-profit organization that is opening a health clinic in Casper that will provide family planning services and gynecology, gynecological care and surgical abortions. It was planned to open in mid-June
But violence in the world of reproductive health is not necessarily new to her. She spent seven years working for Dr. George Tyler in Kansas, who was assassinated in 2009.
“So that [her passion to help create better access] was after his assassination and just saw extremists continue to commit acts of violence against providers. “Fortunately, there has not been a violent act of this magnitude for many years,” Burkhart said.
She started an organization that helped reopen Dr. Tyler’s clinic. Since then, she has worked to help open clinics across the country. But Wellspring Health Access is her first venture. She was encouraged to open a clinic in Casper.
“People in the country came to us. And that was very welcome. We are working with some wonderful people in the field. And people who are obviously invested in having more balance in terms of access to reproductive health care,” she said.
Retired lawyer Mary Ann Budenska is part of that group. He has lived in Casper since the 1980s. She said the group wanted to make sure women get help from the beginning … “when they find out they are pregnant, she helps them with advice and helps them in their final care.”
Currently, there is only one institution in Wyoming that provides medical abortions — that is in Jackson. The closest surgical abortions are in Montana and Colorado. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, state lawmakers have passed what is known as a mover law that would make abortion illegal in the state. Budenske honestly said that if that happens, it will not change much for the state in terms of access to reproductive health.
“One of the things we have to remember here in Casper is that we haven’t had an abortion clinic in the country for a long time,” Budenske said. “But the opportunity for women to feel safe about what is happening and to be able to go somewhere where they can get good medical advice will not happen.
The fact that the abortion could be annulled did not deter the local group or Burkhart from continuing with the plan to open a health clinic. If this were to happen, they would continue to provide other reproductive health services that they consider very important to be available to people in the community - such as family planning, gender-based care and the services of a gynecologist / gynecologist.
But then Burkhart got that call early in the morning.
“We came across vandalism, you know, graffiti, things like that. But certainly nothing up to this size. “And it’s incredibly disappointing that a person or people would take it upon themselves to destroy your property and ban people from accessing reproductive health care on time,” she said.
Casper police announced on Thursday that they are cooperating with the FBI and the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the investigation of the fire. Officials believe the fire was intentional because they identified several areas in the building where gas such as gas was used.
Kari Till, the clinic’s administrator, said she was not necessarily surprised that the arson occurred.
“It is definitely something that I do not approve of or tolerate, in any way violence, for anyone’s opinion,” she said. “But the security aspect of that is something I’m not worried about, I think we will definitely consider providing even more security directions now that it has happened.
The clinic had cameras around the building used by investigators to find out who committed the crime. And they always planned to have a voluntary escort for the patients. Till said that most of the opponents acted calmly.
“Even if people have different opinions about our clinic, they still appreciate not choosing violence to explain their side, their opinion. So that also helps from the security aspect,” Till said. “I feel like a lot of people are on our side in terms of non-violent expression of your opinion.
Opponents of the right to abortion have peacefully demonstrated in front of the building every week since the clinic’s announcement went public.
Burkhart said repairing the damage would be costly.
“We are still compiling those estimates. We are at such an early stage of this. It’s hard to say. But there will be tens, if not hundreds of thousands [of dollars]. “
They still plan to open a clinic, but Burkhart said the time frame has been moved by at least a few weeks.