Woman arrested for setting fire to abortion clinic in U.S.

A woman was arrested in the U.S. state of Wyoming for setting fire to an abortion clinic scheduled to open a few days later, state authorities said in a statement.

The 22-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday thanks, in part, to tips authorities received after offering a $10,000 reward for information about the case.

The arrest involved agents from the FBI, Casper Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF), according to the brief issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Wyoming.

Arrestee faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.s, if finally convicted. No one was injured in the fire.

The event took place in May 2022, just days before the planned opening of the Wellspring Health Access clinic in the town of Casper, Wyoming. From their website, Wellspring explains that its mission is to bring access to abortion to places where there are no other clinics that provide abortion.

The center, in fact, was to be the first to offer abortion services in the locality.but its opening was postponed after the incident and, for the time being, it has not been able to open.

Even so, the website assures that those in charge “plan to open soon.” Among its services, Wellspring offers also gender-affirming care.

Wyoming last Saturday became the first U.S. state to. to specifically ban the abortion pill. mifepristone, after the governor, Republican Mark Gordon, gave the green light to a law that will take effect July 1.

Several activists have already filed a court challenge to that rule and to a near-total ban on abortion that went into effect Sunday but does not have the governor’s signature.