'Jane's Revenge' threatens mass shooting at Catholic ministry center over potential abortion ban
As the debate about abortion remains intense following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June, an abortion activist group has allegedly threatened a Catholic ministry center in Nebraska that it will carry out a mass shooting if an abortion ban passes.
Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life group Students for Life of America, took to Twitter Saturday to share the contents of a note placed on the door of the venue hosting the Students for Life of America Political Leadership Workshop taking place that day.
The message was placed on the door of the St. John Paul II Newman Center, which identifies itself as "the place for Omaha's college students to meet people and encounter Jesus."
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…Abortion Free Cities to shut down the late-term abortion facility in the state.
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) December 3, 2022
When we arrived, a death threat via guns from Jane’s Revenge was posted on the door.
We’ve called the police and are scrambling to make it safe. pic.twitter.com/J8dJrnKjmy
"If our right to abortion in Bellevue is taken away due to the attempt to pass an abortion ban and it gets passed we will shoot up your Newman center with our new AR74 rifles," the note read.
The letter was allegedly signed by Jane's Revenge, a pro-abortion collective that has taken credit for multiple acts of vandalism directed at pro-life pregnancy centers and churches nationwide following the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
Students for Life, a pro-life group with chapters on college and high school campuses nationwide, gathered "activists from across the state" at the Newman Center to discuss how to use the pro-life group's Campaign for Abortion Free Cities "to shut down the late-term abortion facility in the state" located in the nearby city of Bellevue.
Eight cities in Nebraska have declared themselves "sanctuary cities for the unborn," enacting ordinances that prohibit abortions from taking place within the city limits. Students for Life of America is seeking to add Bellevue to that list.
Hawkins said that "we are headed toward tragedy" if the U.S. Justice Department doesn't take action to protect peaceful pro-life activists from pro-choice terrorists.
St. John Paul II Newman Center Director Rev. Dan Andrews, to whom the note was addressed, reacted to the threat in a statement Saturday.
"This obviously causes us great concern. Our number one priority is the safety of our students," he said. "We are thankful for [University of Nebraska Omaha] Police's prompt response and attention to this threat."
Jane's Revenge has gained national prominence in the months following Politico's May 2 publication of a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft, where the justices indicated that they would likely vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
The group became known to the public a week later when it claimed responsibility for the fire-bombing of a pro-life group's office in Madison, Wisconsin.
The pro-life office in Madison was one of many organizations targeted by pro-abortion activists following the leak of the Dobbs decision.
The violence and vandalism directed at pro-life pregnancy centers, churches and other pro-life groups continued after the Supreme Court released the Dobbsdecision on June 24. The court ruled that the U.S. Constitution doesn't contain a right to abortion and overturned Roe. Jane's Revenge has admitted to carrying out some, but not all, attacks.
Pro-life activist groups believe the response from the federal government to the attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches has been inadequate.
While the FBI insisted earlier this year that it is "investigating a series of attacks and threats targeting pregnancy resource centers and faith-based organizations across the country," pro-life activists call for more decisive action.
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights wrote a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the Justice Department seems to be more interested "in pursuing alleged wrongdoing by pro-life activists" and showing "little interest in pursuing alleged wrongdoing by abortion-rights activists."
Donohue contrasted the lack of federal action on pro-abortion vandalism with the federal government's prosecution of a Catholic pro-life activist charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
"Not only did I not receive a response from the attorney general, there have been no news stories on SWAT teams crashing the homes of abortion-rights terrorists," Donohue said.
Hawkins also condemned the "incendiary comments" from prominent Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who compared the overturning of Roe to the Taliban's infringement on women's rights in Afghanistan. Hawkins said remarks like Cltinon's are evidence of a "poisoned political climate being deliberately fostered by corporate abortion and their allies."
States now play an outsized role in determining abortion law following the Dobbs decision.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion advocacy group that keeps track of abortion laws at the state level, notes that Nebraska prohibits abortions after 22 weeks gestation with exceptions in cases where the abortion is performed out of concern for the life and health of the mother.
Nebraska doesn't have an abortion ban being enforced, as more than a dozen other states currently do. A law banning partial-birth abortions is currently tied up in court and not in effect.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
