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After staff at a Boulder, Colorado, abortion clinic called police about threatening language posted on social media this week, officers were photographed praying with protestors—including the person who made the threatening post. It’s just the latest instance where officers have prayed or even protested outside US abortion clinics while on duty, and some clinic staff believe they can’t rely on police for an effective response.
RISE Collective is an all-trimester abortion clinic that opened in October and provides care until 34 weeks. It’s been a target of harassment for being one of the few clinics nationwide that performs abortions later in pregnancy. Just weeks after opening, RISE faced a campaign organized by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, urging the clinic’s landlord to cancel its lease.
On Tuesday, anti-abortion activist Sean Bateman posted a selfie with a text overlay reading, “Today is kill day. Pray for me and the team as we go to plead for life at RISE Collective.” In the photo, Bateman wore a hat with the logo for the White Rose Resistance, a far-right group that supports criminal prosecutions of people who have abortions. The Instagram account belonging to the White Rose Resistance Colorado chapter shared Bateman’s selfie with the same text in the caption. Bateman is an organizer for the chapter.
White Rose Resistance was founded by right-wing influencer Seth Gruber, whose mother ran an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center. It recently publicized a resolution calling on state lawmakers to “remove legal immunities” that prohibit prosecutions of people who have abortions. Many proponents of this view refer to themselves as abortion “abolitionists,” suggesting that abortion is akin to chattel slavery. The male-dominated abolition movement advocates for so-called equal protection laws, which would designate all fertilized eggs as human beings and classify their destruction as murder. The gender dynamic was apparent in the White Rose resolution: of the 21 signatories who lead anti-abortion organizations, just three are women.
The phrase “kill day” in Bateman’s post presumably refers to abortions taking place, but that language evokes the anti-abortion movement’s long history of violence against clinics, patients and providers. RISE is run by the former staff of Boulder Abortion Clinic, which activists targeted for decades because the clinic offered later abortions. A gunman fired multiple shots into the waiting room in 1988. BAC founder Dr. Warren Hern was a close friend of Dr. George Tiller, another later abortion provider who was murdered in 2009 after surviving an earlier assassination attempt in 1993, and a firebombing of his Kansas clinic in 1986. Hern had agreed in late 2024 to turn over the practice to a board of directors, but instead chose to shutter the facility, which he owned, in April 2025.
After Tuesday’s protest, White Rose Colorado shared photos showing two police officers appearing to lower their heads in prayer with Bateman. The group captioned the post: “This is the 3rd Tuesday in a row that law enforcement has been called on us, but they have been very friendly and this week even stopped and prayed with us for a bit.”
Dionne Waugh, a public information officer for the Boulder Police Department, told the Colorado Times Recorder that BPD recognized the prayer may not have seemed impartial. Waugh said BPD investigated Bateman’s online statements and “found nothing that violated the law,” but that an officer and a sergeant went to the clinic to speak with staff and protestors “to ensure everyone’s legal rights were protected and individuals were safe.” She added that BPD has a "professional relationship" with the RISE staff and “shared good communication with this clinic for years, especially given the safety concerns they’ve experienced.” Waugh also explained the circumstances of the prayer:
“As the officers were leaving, some of the protestors asked if they could say a general prayer for the safety of the officers out of respect for the dangerous job they do. The officers said yes then left. We believe strongly in impartiality and having the appearance of impartiality. We recognize how this could have been perceived when taken out of context. We will be addressing this internally.”
Autonomy News asked Waugh via email what it meant for the department to address the issue internally, and she initially responded, “we believe that speaks for itself.” We also asked if the department would create guidance on whether officers should pray with the subjects of a complaint. “We don’t have any further to add beyond that we’re addressing it,” Baugh said.
RISE executive director Alicia Moreno told the Colorado Times Recorder, “none of our staff or patients feel safe.” She said the police explanation of the prayer was cold comfort. “Terroristic threats are not protected under free speech and police praying with those who made the ‘today is kill day’ statements sends a clear—even if contradicted by their statement—signal of alignment.”
Cobalt, a statewide organization that advocates for abortion access and runs an abortion fund, flagged Bateman’s social media comments and urged the BPD to protect the clinic by enforcing state law. Cobalt demanded that authorities enforce a 1993 “bubble law” protecting health care facilities like abortion clinics. The law prevents protestors from getting within eight feet of people entering a facility, but it doesn’t address online threats or other menacing behavior, as long as protestors maintain sufficient distance. A “shield” law passed in 2023 offered some digital privacy protections for reproductive healthcare workers, but that also does not directly protect clinics from violence.
Bateman has been harassing both RISE and Cobalt for months: At a June rally in front of the clinic, he referred to abortion as “murder” and “child sacrifice” and claimed that not only did abortion providers have “blood on their hands,” but so did Cobalt for providing financial assistance for abortion.
Dani Newsum, Cobalt’s director of strategic partnerships, said in a release that threats to RISE are “escalating daily.” She added that national anti-abortion figures convicted of blockading clinics—and later pardoned by Donald Trump—have protested at RISE. Newsum also said there are reports that people are casing the clinic “outside of operating hours, which is extremely dangerous.”
The organization also highlighted the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 law passed after years of clinic blockades and bombings and the murder of a Florida abortion provider. The law prohibits the use of force, threats of force, or obstruction that interferes with obtaining or providing reproductive health care services. But the current administration is unlikely to use it, outside the most tragic cases of clinic violence.
In his first week back in office, Trump pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists who were convicted of violating the FACE Act, and the Justice Department directed federal prosecutors to limit enforcement of the law. A memo explained that prosecutions under the law should only be pursued in "extraordinary circumstances," like in cases of death, serious bodily harm, or serious property damage.
After the Trump administration gutted enforcement of the FACE Act, Wyoming clinic owner Julie Burkhart—who counted Dr. Tiller as her mentor—told HuffPost that clinic workers feel unprotected. In 2022, a woman set fire to Burkhart’s clinic, delaying its opening by nearly a year. Arson would seem to fall under the current FACE Act enforcement guidelines, but charges that only come after significant violence leave a huge door open for extremists. “It makes us feel like we’re swimming out here all alone and we’re sitting ducks,” Burkhart said.
This story was edited by Garnet Henderson and copy edited and fact checked by Hannah McAlilly.
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