A shooting at a clinic in Grand Rapids, Minnesota early yesterday morning marks the third shooting this month at Planned Parenthood clinics in Minnesota and Kansas. No one was injured in the three shootings, which occurred during the early morning hours when the clinics were closed, although damage was extensive. All three clinics provide family planning and basic health care services as well as abortion services or referrals and emergency contraception.
In Monday’s shooting, the clinic’s glass door was shot out and shots were fired into the ceilings and walls, according to the Associated Press. The clinic was closed yesterday and was likely to reopen today. Meanwhile, two shootings occurred over the July Fourth holiday weekend at clinics in Brainerd, Minnesota, 70 miles from Grand Rapids, and Overland Park, Kansas – which is more than 500 miles south of Brainerd. At the Brainerd shooting, five gunshots shattered the front door and two windows on the morning of July Fourth. The Brainerd clinic was up and running Monday after the holiday weekend. In Overland Park, 14 bullets punctured windows and broke furniture on Sunday of the holiday weekend – damage is estimated at $20,000 to $30,000. Police and FBI are investigating all three incidents, it is unknown if they are connected. Anyone with information or questions about the shootings should call the Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Clinic Access Project’s women’s health clinic hotline at 1-877-BE-SAFE-8.
