BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — A federal judge sentenced an Ohio woman to two years of probation and ordered her to pay a $2,000 fine for vandalizing a free reproductive health care facility in Bowling Green last year.
Whitney Durant, 20, of Worthington, pleaded guilty in December to one count of intentionally damaging a reproductive health care center, a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Durant vandalized HerChoice, a clinic on Ridge Street in Bowling Green, on April 15, 2023, because it offers it "offers pregnancy counseling, free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, but not abortion services," according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to neutrally enforcing federal laws that protect uninterrupted access to all clinics providing reproductive health services, whether those clinics provide women with options that include abortion care or whether they solely encourage women to consider non-abortion alternatives,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “This prosecution and sentence demonstrate that we will not tolerate efforts to impede patient access to the reproductive health care of their choice by someone who intentionally defaces or otherwise damages a clinic providing such services. The First Amendment protects peaceful protests, not blatant vandalism.”
The graffiti included phrases saying “LIARS”, “FAKE CLINIC,” “Fund Abortion,” “ABORT GOD” and "Jane’s Revenge."
Jane’s Revenge, which is described as an abortion rights group, has been accused of targeting reproductive healthcare facilities across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in June 2022.
The Counter Extremism Project, which maintains databases on extremist and terrorist groups around the world, calls Jane’s Revenge a “militant pro-abortion rights group” and says the group has claimed responsibility for arson and vandalism across the country.
It is unclear if Durant is a member of the movement.