CHICAGO (AP) 鈥 A fire at a central Illinois Planned Parenthood clinic is being investigated as arson, Peoria police said Tuesday, just days after the state enacted sweeping abortion protections.
Officers responded to a report of an 鈥渦nknown person throwing a Molotov cocktail鈥 into the Peoria clinic building at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, police spokesperson Semone Roth said.
Peoria police and fire officials are investigating the blaze, and no suspects have been identified or arrests made, Roth said.
The incident occurred two days after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law to protect out-of-state abortion seekers, adding Illinois to the list of states that have placed legal reinforcements around the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to .
No patients or staff were inside during the fire, but it caused 鈥渟ignificant damage鈥 to the building, said Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois in a statement.
The clinic is currently closed, and the organization is rescheduling patients who had appointments to other health care centers, and offering transportation assistance to those who need it.
The Peoria Planned Parenthood location offered medication abortion but was not a site for in-clinic procedures, said Welch, who pledged to prosecute the perpetrator 鈥渢o the fullest extent of the law.鈥
鈥淭he vast majority of our Peoria Health Center patients were coming to us for family planning, STI testing and treatment and other reproductive health care," she said. 鈥淭his act of vandalism will have a devastating impact on the community鈥檚 ability to access birth control, cancer screenings and gender-affirming care."
Anti-abortion organization Illinois Right to Life executive director Mary Kate Zander condemned the incident, saying: 鈥淲e would never condone violence against any Planned Parenthood or any other abortion clinic." She added: 鈥淭he primary reason that we stand against abortion is that it鈥檚 an act of violence. So it would be hypocritical of us to not say the same in the case of an act of violence against abortion workers.鈥 ___
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