Two in Florida indicted for pregnancy center vandalism

TAMPA, Florida (BP)—A Florida man and woman have been indicted in U.S. District Court on charges of attacking a pregnancy support center in the Sunshine State.

Caleb Hunter Freestone and Amber Marie Smith-Stewart face charges of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act between May and July 2022 by painting threatening graffiti on pregnancy support centers in Hollywood, Fla., and Hialeah, Fla.

“I am glad to see progress made towards justice for a few of these centers and hope that other centers that faced violence will also be granted that opportunity,” Hannah Daniel said.

Daniel serves as a policy manager based in Washington, D.C., for the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Dozens of pregnancy support centers reported attacks and vandalism in the days and weeks following the May 2022 leak of a draft decision in a U.S. Supreme Court case suggesting Roe v. Wade would be overturned.

The SCOTUS decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was announced on June 24, 2022.

Freestone and Smith-Stewart are the first two to be indicted on related federal charges.

Last week, the FBI announced a reward of up to $25,000 for information that led to arrests in cases across the country.

The pair are accused of painting messages such as “YOUR TIME IS UP!!”, “WE’RE COMING FOR U.” and “We are everywhere.” and “If abortions aren’t SAFE then niether (sic) are you.”

“While some abortion activists chose violence and vandalism to express their outrage following the Dobbs decisions, pregnancy resource centers across the country rolled up their sleeves and pressed on doing the important work of serving mothers and their children that they’ve been doing for decades,” Daniel stated.