Bomb Shatters Windows of Newport Beach Abortion Clinic

NEWPORT BEACH â€”  A bomb early Friday shattered the windows of a Newport Beach clinic that offers abortions, the second attack there in a year.

Employees arriving at 7 a.m. at Family Planning Associates in the 4500 block of Birch Street, about a block from John Wayne Airport, found that two 40-square-foot windows flanking the front door had been destroyed.

No one was injured, “but there was definitely the potential for injury if someone had been inside of the building or had been passing by,� Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said. Police bomb experts at the scene said it could take weeks to identify the type of explosive used and would not say whether it was detonated inside or outside of the clinic.

Last summer, a fire set outside the clinic’s front door in the middle of the night caused $9,000 in damage to the lobby. Authorities say that incident remains unsolved.

Michael Monji, an administrator with Family Planning Associates Medical Group in Long Beach, the clinic’s parent organization, said: “It’s part of the business. Someone set off a device. We don’t know who could have done it. We’ve had demonstrations but no threats.�

A handful of people have been been picketing and distributing leaflets several times a week outside the clinic, which offers a range of medical services for women.

Police had no suspects Friday. But Barbara Jackson, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties, said: “I think there is no question that an extremist in the anti-abortion movement did this. It’s part of an orchestrated, nationwide campaign of violence against health care providers. It’s just common sense. . . . It’s not reasonable to even question whether it is a completely random� attack.

But Sue Finn, spokeswoman for Operation Rescue of California, said any number of people would have a motive to attack a family planning clinic, such as “a disgruntled boyfriend of someone who had an abortion.�