‘It felt targeted’: Yuba City pregnancy resource clinic vandalized, window broken overnight

A pregnancy resource clinic in Yuba City was vandalized this week, with three rocks used to break a large window overnight between June 27 and 28.

Employees at the clinic, A Woman’s Friend, reported the incident to Yuba City police around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to Yuba City police department spokeswoman Lt. Michelle Brazil.

“It’s sad,” said A Woman’s Friend executive director Kristen Bird. “We love our community, we’re involved in our community and we want to continue to serve our community with our services.”

The incident comes less than a week after the Supreme Court’s historic overturn of Roe vs. Wade, which reversed nearly half a century of constitutional protection for abortion and put a national spotlight on the availability of emergency pregnancy services.

A Woman’s Friend does not offer abortion services or referrals, according to its website, instead describing itself as a “life-affirming” organization that aims to “share the truth about life, choices and consequences.” The clinic primarily provides pregnancy tests, counseling and what Bird described as “abortion education.”

In 2015, A Woman’s Friend sued then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris, asking for an injunction to block a law that would require the clinic to inform patients that abortion services are available elsewhere.

The vandalism’s proximity to the Roe vs. Wade overturn, Bird said, “did not feel random.”

“It felt targeted,” Bird said, “But I can’t say if it was one thing over another.”

Last Saturday, affiliates of the reproductive rights group Jane’s Revenge smashed windows and spray painted walls at Tree of Life Pregnancy Support Center in Paso Robles, an organization which offers similar services to A Woman’s Friend.

No other nearby establishments in Yuba City have experienced recent vandalism and Brazil said the motive in this case remained unclear.