At least four abortion clinics received suspicious letters yesterday, several of which claimed to contain the potentially deadly bacterium anthrax. The FBI is analyzing the contents of letters.
The sender or senders of the letters targeted the cities of Washington, DC; Manchester, NH; Milwaukee, WI; Cincinnati, OH; Burlington, VT; and Rapid City, SD. Several of the clinics were forced to close temporarily while law enforcement and fire fighters worked to contain the area and decontaminate those who may have come in contact with the anthrax.
Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal stated, “Law enforcement agencies are taking these threats very seriously, and we urge clinics to do the same. When letters claiming to contain anthrax were received several months ago, they turned out to be hoaxes. We urge clinics not to assume that threats are hoaxes and to immediately report any suspicious letters or packages to authorities.”
Abortion clinics in four states were targeted last fall, and the State Department, the Old Executive Office Building, the U.S. Court of Appeals and The Washington Post were all subjects of anthrax threats earlier this month.
The sender of the anthrax threats could be charged with a felony offense.
