Jane's Revenge: Using violence against property to counter anti-abortion extremists?

The Christian Post reports (Ryan Foley, DOJ urged to act after Jane's Revenge declares 'open season' on pro-life organizations 06/17/2022):

Pro-life leaders and lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the wave of firebombings and vandalism targeting churches and pro-life pregnancy centers as a radical abortion activist group declared "open season" on pro-lifers.

Jane's Revenge, which has claimed responsibility for multiple recent acts of vandalism and arson, has published another communique that threatens the safety of pro-life activists and pregnancy centers.

The conservative Christian Post isn't particularly known for its in-depth investigative journalism on violent political sects. But it's clear that whatever Jane's Revenge actually is, conservatives are alarmed over it. And maybe with some justification.

Before going further, I want to mention that in a post-Roe world, getting access to necessary abortion may require civil disobedience by organizations and individuals committed to helping people in that situation. And if the Republicans get a national abortion ban passed, pretty much anyone getting an abortion or assisting people to get an abortion will be breaking the law. Much of that kind of civil disobedience will be necessary and morally justified.

So everyone should be prepared to distinguish among different types of extra-legal action by abortion rights defenders.

It's also worth noting that the pregnancy advice centers through which anti-abortions deliberately misrepresent what they are and intentionally giving false information to young women seeking real medical advice on abortion are doing something deeply unethical and contemptible. Tthey do mostly seem to be careful to stay on the legal side of the law. But they are doing real harm to real people.

These kinds of distinctions are important. And antiabortion extremists will blur them with no hesitation.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported on an incident in Madison last month (Chris Rickert, Group claims responsibility for attack on anti-abortion organization in Madison, warns of more violence 05/12/2022):

Madison Police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer said in a statement Tuesday that the department “is aware of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal partners to determine the veracity of that claim.” ...

The statement claims to represent multiple groups “in every city” and that the attack on Wisconsin Family Action could be the first of many.

“Next time the infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive,” the statement says. “Medical imperialism will not face a passive enemy. Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, but we are all over the US, and we will issue no further warnings.”

The attack in Madison came after two Catholic churches in Colorado, including one known for its annual anti-abortion display, were vandalized last week. Also, on Sunday night in Oregon, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at an anti-abortion organization after an unsuccessful break-in attempt, the Associated Press reported.

Judith Levine reports on the group for The Intercept, Beyond Revenge, What Does Jane’s Revenge Want? 06/16/2022. She addresses an obvious question:

Was this a false flag? Who but the extreme right, which had looked the other way while its terrorist armies murdered abortion providers, would besmirch the name of Jane, the Chicago collective that provided over 11,000 safe, illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade? This seemed the perfect tactic: A campaign of violence by pro-choice forces would reinforce the picture of abortion advocates as barbarians and justify draconian punishment of those who perform, facilitate, or have abortions. Come to think of it, had anyone in the world ever thrown a Molotov cocktail in the name of reproductive freedom?

And she notes:

In the May 15 edition of his daily podcast, “It Could Happen Here,” [Bellingcat journalist] Robert Evans, who covers extremism, reviewed the language of a communiqué from the group and the source through which it came to him, and expressed confidence that Jane’s Revenge is what it says it is, not some right-wing imposter. Evans called the acts “ethical terrorism” — the destruction of “infrastructure” rather than the “unethical terrorism” that targets “civilians” — agreed with a guest that the Wisconsin attackers’ bomb was a “pretty good Molotov,” and pronounced the action “competent” and its messaging clear.

I just saw on an episode of the German police procedural Tatort ("Schattenleben") a poster saying, "You Should Be Glad We Want Equality & Not Revenge." The secretive new group apparently wants both!

Evans' podcast "Jane's Revenge" is available here.

Levine reflects in several paragraphs on possible implications of the actions being claimed by Jane's Revenge. With little known about the group itself, speculate is about all ordinary news consumers and even journalists can do.

But given the rightwing's fondness for playing the victim, we'll probably be hearing a lot of whining and maybe hysteria from them about the Jane's Revenge group.

It's worth recalling here that the antiabortion far-right was very important in the formation of the Patriot Militia movement in the 1990s. (Laura Flanders, Far-Right Militias and Anti-Abortion Violence: When Will Media See the Connection? FAIR 07/01/1995) One of America's most notorious terrorists, Timothy McVeigh, was fanatically antiabortion.