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Yes.

More than 100 attacks on churches and pro-life clinics have occurred since May 2, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked. 

At least 147 attacks on Catholic churches have occurred since the leak, with most consisting of property destruction, according to a tracker by the conservative group CatholicVote. 

A report by the conservative Family Research Council examining attacks against all denominations of churches found at least 57 incidents from January 2022 to September 2022 contained pro-abortion messages or were linked to pro-abortion protests. An FRC tracker also shows that 64 pro-life organizations have been attacked in the period between the leak and March 2023. 

Only a small proportion of the attacks have been linked to documented arrests, though Attorney General Merrick Garland has said that the FBI is putting its “full resources” into prosecuting attackers of pro-life pregnancy centers.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Catholic Vote Tracker: Over 300 attacks on US Catholic churches since May 2020

Family Research Council Hostility against churches is on the rise in the United States

Family Research Council Tracker of attacks against churches and pro-life organizations (as of March 16, 2023)

Fox News More than 100 pro-life orgs, churches attacked since Dobbs leak

Fox News AG Garland claims FBI has put ‘full resources’ into tracking attacks on pro-life centers, despite few arrests

Politico Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows

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Jacob Alabab-Moser / Wisconsin WatchFact Checker

Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project. He holds a BA from Brown University and is pursuing a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.