The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officials: Arson destroyed Planned Parenthood clinic
It’s the 2nd crime in 12 months aimed at the organization.
A fire that destroyed a Planned Parenthood health clinic last month in Knoxville, Tennessee, was arson, the Knoxville Fire Department said, as federal and local investigators tried to identify who was behind the early morning attack.
The fire department received a call about the fire at 6:39 a.m. Dec. 31, when the Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi clinic was closed for renovations. The investigation is the second in the past year to focus on a crime against the clinic, which provided birth control, cancer screenings and medication abortions.
Investigators are searching the burned remains of the single-story building for evidence, a task that has been made more difficult by snow and rain, said Mark Wilbanks, Knoxville Fire Department’s assistant chief.
Wilbanks said the investigation, which includes support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is focused on identifying potential suspects. Investigators have offered a reward of up to $10,000 for those who can provide information that would lead to the prosecution of anyone involved with the arson.
Last January, someone with a gun shot at the clinic and shattered its glass front door.
A spokesperson for the Knoxville Police Department, Scott Erland, said in an email Friday morning that the shooting case remained unsolved and that no suspect had been identified. The FBI said it was assisting with that investigation.
The investigations into the January 2021 shooting and December’s arson case are separate for now, Wilbanks said.
Ashley Coffield, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood for Tennessee and North Mississippi, noted that the shooting took place on the same day as the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, the decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Opponents of abortion providers have protested at clinics for decades, and the issue of abortion rights remains intensely controversial. In December, the Supreme Court seemed poised to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Such a decision would be at odds with Roe v. Wade, which prohibited states from banning abortion before fetal viability, currently around 23 weeks. Coffield said Friday that protesters routinely demonstrated outside the organization’s regional health centers but that they were not violent.
Coffield said the organization was not intimidated. “We are on the same track that we were on before the fire, which is, we are planning to expand in Knoxville,” she said.
The Knoxville health clinic provided care to about 4,000 people in 2021, according to the Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi. This included 2,402 patients for birth control and testing for sexually transmitted diseases; 815 abortion patients; and 724 patients for gender-affirming hormone therapy.
The clinic is still providing transition care and birth control refills by telehealth, and it encouraged patients to contact it for help seeking other care. There is one other clinic in Knoxville that provides abortions.
When the fire tore through the building on the morning of New Year’s Eve, the clinic was near completing a $2.2 million renovation Coffield said would have expanded existing services and enabled them to provide surgical abortions.
The renovation is a complete loss, but Coffield and Chief Development Officer Aimee Lewis said morale had been boosted by the supportive messages and donations they have received.