Shadowy pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge has orchestrated a nationwide campaign of destruction and vandalism against pro-life groups for which police have yet to make an arrest.
The group’s attacks began on May 8 in Madison, Wisconsin, where Jane’s Revenge members torched the headquarters of pro-life group Wisconsin Family Action.
“They had Molotov cocktails. They threw one against the window, and the window didn’t break. So then they broke a window and threw a Molotov cocktail into my office,” said Julaine Appling, Wisconsin Family Action’s president.
When the Molotov didn’t destroy the office enough, the attackers started a fire in Appling’s office using her books.
“The thing that I am missing the most is all the books they burned,” Appling said. “Some of those might at this point be irreplaceable.”
The same day, Jane’s Revenge announced its existence, claimed responsibility for the attack, and promised more nationwide.
“We are forced to adopt the minimum military requirement for a political struggle,” its anonymous writer said in an online manifesto.
Who Is Jane’s Revenge?
The attack on Wisconsin Family Action’s office was the first one claimed by Jane’s Revenge.In its first post on Sunday, May 8, the group announced a “declaration of war” against pro-life groups. It demanded the disbandment of all American pro-life groups in the next 30 days.
“As you continue to bomb clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity, so too shall we adopt increasingly extreme tactics to maintain freedom over our own bodies,” the group wrote.
This “First Communiqué” also announced that Jane’s Revenge had “not one group, but many” in “every city.”
A second manifesto on May 30 called for a “Night of Rage” on the night the Supreme Court releases the Dobbs v. Jackson verdict.
It asked for “courageous hearts to come out after dark.”
It also claimed that Jane’s Revenge had a “few hundred people” but needed more members.
It’s unclear whether Jane’s Revenge has a centralized leadership, cells across the country, or is simply a slogan that unconnected pro-abortion radicals use when attacking pro-life clinics.
The group’s true size is also unclear.
Many attacks against pro-life groups nationwide have used graffiti tags connected to Jane’s Revenge.
Jane’s Revenge attacks tend to have cursive graffiti reading, “Jane Was Here,” “Jane’s Revenge,” anarchist symbols, the number “1312,” or some version of the phrase “If abortions aren’t safe then neither are you.”
Attackers on the Loose
The Epoch Times has interviewed seven of the 28 pro-life organizations attacked since the Dobbs v. Jackson leak. Several attacked organizations refused to be interviewed because they feared a higher profile would bring more attacks.
But all organizations that spoke with the Epoch Times said they wouldn’t quit because of the attacks.
“We’re not going to go away. We’re not going to be quiet. We are going to continue to be bold and strong. Because we are on the right side of this issue,” Appling with Wisconsin Family Action said.
The vast majority of groups contacted by the Epoch Times said they had video of their attackers and were working with the police. Several clinics that received threats from Jane’s Revenge have also passed on information to the FBI.
In Long Beach, California, a woman entered His Nesting Place, a church and maternity care home, according to senior pastor Al Howard. The woman screamed obscenities, tore up a Bible, and threw a vase belonging to the church.
While congregants moved her out of the church, the woman attempted to open her backpack, Howard said.
“It dawned on us later that she possibly might have had a weapon,” he said.
Both security and phone cameras caught the attack, Howard said. While she was in the church, the attacker said she was local. Later, she shouted and threatened outside the church again.
But police still haven’t caught her, he said.
“She said, ‘I’m not finished with you. I'll be back and I’m going to burn this place to the ground and all of you in it,’” Howard said.
Police didn’t set up a guard on the church while the attacker remained at large, he said.
Compass Care Pregnancy Services in Buffalo, New York suffered the worst attack so far from Jane’s Revenge, according to its director Jim Harden.
The attacker threw Molotovs at the clinic, resulting in “catastrophic” fire damage, Harden said.
The damage will require a full rebuild, he said. But due to the high number of donations the clinic has received, he plans to make a new and expanded building.
“Let’s not only rebuild, let’s build it bigger,” Harden said.
Police and the FBI have told Harden that they have leads on multiple perpetrators, but have yet to arrest a suspect, he said.
Doubting Law Enforcement
Thomas Glessner, the president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), said he believes that stopping violence by pro-abortion extremists isn’t a priority for law enforcement.NIFLA connects over 1,600 pro-life groups nationwide. Jane’s Revenge has twice firebombed one of NIFLA’s clinics in Portland, Oregon. Glessner said he doubts that police want to catch those responsible.
“Portland, Oregon? The police there let Antifa blow up to the inner city. How seriously are they gonna take this?” he said. “I know the FBI has been called in to some [clinic attacks], but again, how seriously are they gonna take this?”
He’s not the only leader disappointed in police efforts to combat Jane’s Revenge.
In Wisconsin, Appling started offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the people who attacked her clinic. It has been over a month since the attackers struck.
“We thought it was appropriate to see if there was any way we might find someone who saw or heard information about this attack,” she said.
At Trotter House, a pro-life clinic in Austin, Texas, vandals took video of themselves vandalizing the clinic’s property, then posted it online, said clinic director Lori DeVillez. But as of yet, police have made no arrests. She blamed the lack of response on low police department funding.
“Now in Austin, when you call 911, nobody comes,” she said.
Pro-Abortion, Pro-Violence?
Despite the wave of violence against their political opponents, most nationwide pro-abortion groups haven’t made public statements condemning the violence.The Epoch Times contacted Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to ask for a reaction statement to the nationwide attacks on pro-life groups. None replied by press time.
One of the few groups to make a statement about the attacks was pro-abortion group ReproAction.
Its statement condemned pro-life groups for five paragraphs, then briefly stated that “Vandalizing anti-abortion fake clinics does not help people seeking abortions.”
“Well, let me just say this: a woman has a right to choose, to live up to her responsibility, it’s up to her doctor, her family, her husband, her significant other, and her God. This talk of politicizing all of this, I think, is something uniquely American and not right,” Pelosi said.
According to Glessner, pro-abortion groups support the attacks. Glessner added that NIFLA has condemned violent attacks against abortion doctors in the past.
“They support the attacks. They will not come out and say that, because they don’t want to pull into a criminal action. But they actually support the attacks,” he said.
“If you want to do property destruction, do it in secret. If you’re doing it publicly, you’re probably an infiltrator,” Bloch said. “There’s no condemnation of bringing the system down.”
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