Planned Parenthood Shooting Escalates Abortion Debate

“linking this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion, …, is typical left-wing tactics.”

The shooting Friday at a Colorado Springs, Colo., Planned Parenthood clinic that left three dead reverberated among activists, lawmakers and presidential candidates already entrenched in clashes over abortion.

The suspect in the attack, Robert Lewis Dear, told authorities “no more baby parts” after being apprehended, said a law-enforcement official.

Antiabortion activists this year released undercover videos in which Planned Parenthood officials spoke about the group’s provision of fetal tissue from abortions for use in medical research.

Abortion opponents use the phrase “baby body parts” in discussing the videos and accused Planned Parenthood affiliates of “selling” them. Planned Parenthood officials denied wrongdoing but said they would stop taking reimbursement for the cost of supplying the tissue.

The video campaign invigorated debate over abortion in the 2016 presidential race and revived congressional efforts to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates.

The attack renewed attention on the issue of violence against abortion providers, which had been mostly dormant for several years.

Leading abortion opponents criticized the attack. “While we don’t know all the details of this horrific event, we know that it was an evil act, one condemned by pro-life Americans nationwide,” said Americans United for Life President Charmaine Yoest.

Abortion-rights supporters said they had seen a significant increase in threats and property damage to clinics since the videos began emerging in July, and in August, had met with a Department of Justice-led task force to discuss that uptick.

“This has been the most vitriolic and intense period in terms of threats in my 20 years at NAF,” said Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, which represents providers. Ms. Saporta said her group would make proposals for stepped-up enforcement of existing laws, and potential new ones, to deter the violence.

Over the weekend, presidential candidates from both parties spoke about the shooting. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Twitter said, “Today and every day, we #StandWithPP,” using the hashtag Planned Parenthood has used in response to critics. Fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders said that “what is clear is that Planned Parenthood has been the subject of vicious and unsubstantiated statements.”

The Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, speaking on NBC, described Mr. Dear as a “sick person.” Asked whether the rhetoric surrounding the abortion issue could have motivated the attacker, Mr. Trump said, “No.”

GOP candidate Mike Huckabee described the assault as an act of “domestic terrorism” and said it was inconsistent with antiabortion motivations. “There’s no excuse for killing other people,” he said.

Fellow Republican Carly Fiorina said attempts to “link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion, or opposes the sale of body parts, is typical left-wing tactics.”

President Barack Obama condemned the shooting Saturday, renewing his call for stricter gun-control regulations.

“This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal,” he said in a statement. “If we truly care about this—if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience—then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets.”

Sometime last year, Mr. Dear moved to Hartsel, Colo., in rural Park County, an unincorporated community with little more than a post office, a fire department and a grocery-store gas station.

Glen Batts, a retired fire department official, said the area attracts people who like “living off the grid” in the rural countryside. “It is very remote—you get a lot of squatters, a lot of people who live up here who want to be isolationists,” he said.

More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):