Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and a pregnancy crisis center are suing members of direct-action group Jane’s Revenge in federal court for violent attacks against pro-life counseling agencies.
Jane’s Revenge is a militant abortion-rights group that emerged in May 2022 after the leak of a draft version of the Supreme Court opinion that would later overturn Roe v. Wade. The group has claimed responsibility for physical attacks on pregnancy counseling centers. The group’s name was reportedly inspired by the Chicago-based Jane Collective, an underground organization started by labor activist Heather Booth in the 1960s that helped women obtain abortions before the 1973 Roe ruling made them widely available.
Antifa is a left-wing terrorist group that, among other things, coordinated with Black Lives Matter to carry out the nationwide riots in 2020 that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Moody, a Republican, described both groups in a statement as “criminal organizations” that “must answer for their crimes in Florida.”
“I am taking action to hold their members accountable for attempting to intimidate and threaten law-abiding citizens in our state,” she said.
After the leak of the draft opinion in the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe, Jane’s Revenge and Antifa reportedly began targeting crisis pregnancy centers nationwide by spray-painting walls, breaking windows, and in some cases, setting fire to buildings.
Extremists vandalized crisis pregnancy centers across the country by spray-painting threatening words on the buildings and firebombing facilities. Militants vandalized at least four centers in Minnesota, while others firebombed a center in Colorado. There have been attacks on at least 58 crisis pregnancy centers since the leak took place, according to a statement by Moody’s office.
Moody’s legal complaint states that Freestone and Smith-Stewart took part in coordinated attacks in Florida, vandalizing at least three crisis centers, including the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center, LifeChoice crisis pregnancy center in Winter Haven, and Heartbeat of Miami in Hialeah. The defendants spray-painted on center walls the Jane’s Revenge slogan: “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you.”
“These attacks harm clinics offering services free of charge, harm citizens seeking and in need of pregnancy related services, create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and destabilize civil society,” the complaint says.
Moody is also seeking damages of at least $140,000 each from Freestone and Smith-Stewart.
At the same time, First Liberty Institute, which is representing Heartbeat of Miami, filed suit against Jane’s Revenge, Freestone, Smith-Stewart, and Rivera.
Heartbeat of Miami is a religious ministry that provides “life-affirming reproductive health services to women and couples facing unplanned pregnancies in Hialeah, Florida,” according to First Liberty.
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty, said that those “who target life-affirming reproductive health facilities must face the legal penalties Congress established for their crimes.”
“No one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies. Violence is never a lawful response to disagreement,” Dys said in a statement.
Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty, praised Moody for taking legal action.
Moody “is leading the effort to protect all faith-based pregnancy care centers across the country,” he said in a statement.
“The rule of law compels this lawsuit. If you use violence as a means to advance your disagreement, you will be held accountable by the law.”
The individuals being sued could not be reached for comment.
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