Police suspect fire at Wyoming abortion clinic was intentionally set

Police suspect a fire that broke out at a Wyoming abortion clinic was intentionally set, the Casper Star Tribune reports.

The blaze was ignited at around 4am at the Wellspring Health Access in Casper.

"This was intentional," Wellspring founder Julie Burkhart told the Star-Tribune, adding that it's uncertain if the fire will delay the clinic's opening date.

"This world seems to be encased in violence," she added.

A witness told police that they saw someone running away from the building around the time the fire started.

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Wellspring announced it would open the clinic this past April, which would have made it just the second location in the entire state to offer abortions, and the first to offer surgical abortions.

This has made it a magnet for anti-abortion demonstrators in the area, although those demonstrations against the clinic had remained peaceful.

The suspected arson at the clinic comes as the United States Supreme Court is poised to overturn decades of legal precedent by reversing the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made getting an abortion a legal right in the United States.

A leaked draft of the opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, reportedly has the support of five Supreme Court justices.