Anti-Abortion Threats Up Since Sept. 11

Nov. 28, 2001 -- Bulletproof glass, reinforced concrete, protective gear for opening the mail — it sounds like the new era of enhanced security post-Sept. 11. But one group of Americans has been living with such measures for years: doctors who legally provide abortions.

Abortion providers have been the target of shootings, bombings and vandalism in the past, and have learned to live with regular threats of violence. But they have reported an increase in the threats since the Sept. 11 terror attacks — including two waves of mailings purporting to contain anthrax.

Last Thursday, about 200 abortion clinics and advocacy groups received Federal Express packages containing a white powder and a letter saying the powder was anthrax.

"Enclosed is anthrax, the real thing, very high quality," read a letter received by Dr. Morris Wortman, an obstetrician-gynecologist who performs abortions as part of his practice in Rochester, N.Y.

The letter, like many of the others, was signed "The Army of God" — the name of a militant anti-abortion group whose members have carried out attacks on abortion providers since the mid-1980s. None of the letters turned out to contain real anthrax.

The FBI is looking into a claim that the letters were sent by Clayton Waagner, a fugitive anti-abortion militant with ties to the Army of God. Waagner, 44, has been on the run since February, when he escaped from an Illinois jail where he was awaiting sentencing on federal weapons charges.

At his trial, Waagner testified that God had asked him to kill doctors who provide abortions. In a posting on the Army of God Web site in June, a writer claiming to be Waagner said he knew where 42 abortion providers lived and threatened to kill them.

On the day after Thanksgiving, another anti-abortion militant, Neal Horsley, posted a message on the site saying that Waagner had visited him and told him he had sent the hoax anthrax mailings.

Abortion providers had reported a similar wave of hoax anthrax mailings in October. Waagner has been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list since September.