Texas pro-life group evacuated by police over bomb threat, suspicious package
A pro-life activist organization based in Texas that advocated for the state’s new abortion law received a bomb threat last Friday, leading police to evacuate the office as a precaution.
Texas Right to Life received an email last Friday that included a bomb threat, with a suspicious package being delivered to its headquarters in Bellaire later that day.
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The Bellaire Police Department sent The Christian Post a statement about the situation on Monday, noting that the suspicious package ultimately did not include an explosive device.
“While Bellaire police officers were one scene, a U.S. Postal Service employee was delivering the mail and in that delivery was a suspicious package. Officers recognized the suspicious nature of the packaging and cleared the offices and the building,” stated the police department.
“Houston Police’s Bomb Squad was contacted and technicians responded to evaluate the package. After X-raying the package, it was discovered that the contents were inert.”
The Bellaire Police Department is continuing its investigation into the incident, explaining that bomb threats are a criminal offense classified as a “Terroristic Threat” and can be punishable with a fine of up to $4,000 and as much as a year in jail.
“Texas Right to Life did the right thing in contacting the police,” continued the police department's statement. “It was fortunate that our officers were on scene when the suspicious package was delivered and we appreciate the occupants of the building working with police to quickly clear out in the event that this was an actual bomb.”
Soon after the incident, the pro-life group released a statement tying the bomb threat and other disparaging acts against them to the newly enacted Texas heartbeat abortion ban.
“A lot of people are still FURIOUS about the Texas Heartbeat Act. They’re trying to silence us. They despise us for even talking about a life-saving law,” stated Texas Right to Life.
“Their ire and vitriol won’t stop us from protecting pregnant women from the same lies. Their clamors won’t silence us from protecting babies.”
On Sept. 1, a Texas law that prohibits abortions in most circumstances after a baby's heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy, took effect.
Known as Senate Bill 8 or the Texas Heartbeat Act, the law allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs illegal abortions or helps a woman obtain an illegal abortion.
Last Thursday, the Biden administration filed a lawsuit against the Texas Heartbeat Act in district court, arguing that the legislation is in “defiance of the Constitution.”
“It is settled constitutional law that a State may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability,’” reads the lawsuit in part.
“The United States … seeks a declaratory judgment that S.B. 8 is invalid under the Supremacy Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment, is preempted by federal law, and violates the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity.”
Earlier this year, a declassified report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named both pro-life and pro-choice “abortion-related domestic violent extremists" as one of the categories of domestic violent extremists identified by the intelligence community.
Domestic violent extremists are defined as “U.S.-based actors who conduct or threaten activities that are dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state; appearing to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; and influence the government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.”
The report didn't mention any specific group or organization by name.
