A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty this week to a federal misdemeanor for spray-painting pregnancy resource centers in Denton in 2022, according to a Department of Justice news release.
According to court documents, on May 7, 2022, Ethan Skorick intentionally damaged the property of Loreto House and Woman to Woman centers by defacing the clinics’ buildings, doors and security cameras with spray paint, according to the news release. Specifically, Skorick vandalized the buildings with words including, “NOT A CLINIC,” “FORCED BIRTH IS MURDER,” and “PRO BIRTH [does not equal] PRO LIFE.”
“This defendant sought to prevent fellow citizens from exercising rights protected by law,” said U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs for the Eastern District of Texas. “People cannot resort to destroying property in an effort to intimidate or prevent others from engaging in lawful activity simply because they disagree with the law. This office will remain dedicated to protecting the rights of all Americans to safely access medical services and ensuring providers can perform their duties freely.”
Skorick was charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits a person from intentionally damaging or destroying the property of a facility because that facility provides reproductive health services.
“Vandalizing facilities, including pregnancy resource centers, that provide reproductive health care has no place in the national discourse on reproductive health. Such conduct is unacceptable and unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will enforce the FACE Act to protect all providers of reproductive health services, and their patients.”
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