Abortion in Canada is legal at all stages of pregnancy, regardless of the reason, and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. However, access to services and resources varies by region. While some non-legal barriers to access continue to exist, Canada is the only nation with absolutely no criminal restrictions on abortion. Abortion availability is, however, subject to provincial health-care regulatory guidelines for physicians. The general rule is that few providers offer abortion care beyond 23 weeks and 6 days, but there can be exceptions in certain cases.
John James McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order. He was created by Dick Wolf and Michael S. Chernuchin and has been portrayed by Sam Waterston during both the show's original run from 1994 to 2010 and since its return in 2022. He is one of the longest-tenured characters on the show, with both he and Lt. Anita Van Buren appearing in 17 seasons. He has appeared in 369 episodes of Law & Order, four episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, two episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, and the made-for-TV movie Exiled.
Army of God (AOG) is an American Christian terrorist organization, members of which have perpetrated anti-abortion violence. According to the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base, the Army of God is an active underground terrorist organization in the United States. In addition to numerous property crimes, the group has committed acts of kidnapping, attempted murder, and murder. The AOG was formed in 1982 and, while sharing a common ideology and tactics, the group's members claim that they rarely communicate with each other; this is known more formally as leaderless resistance. The group forbids those who wish to "take action against babykilling abortionists" from discussing their plans with anyone in advance.
Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, including kidnapping, stalking, assault, attempted murder, and murder; and crimes affecting both people and property, including arson and terrorism, such as bombings.
Dr Elizabeth Olivet is a fictional character on the TV crime drama Law & Order. She was portrayed by Carolyn McCormick from 1991 to 1997 and in 1999. The character was revived in 2002, although her appearances became much more infrequent; her last appearance on Law & Order occurred in 2009. Since the cancellation of Law & Order, Olivet has continued to be seen very occasionally on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, with her most recent appearance taking place in 2018.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: (1) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is obtaining an abortion, (2) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is exercising or trying to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, (3) the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or a place of worship.
Troy Edward Newman-Mariotti, known as Troy Newman, is an American anti-abortion activist. He is the president of Operation Rescue, which is based in Wichita, Kansas, and sits on the board of the Center for Medical Progress.
Dr. David Gunn was murdered with a shotgun on March 10, 1993, by Michael Frederick Griffin in Pensacola, Florida, in the United States in an act of anti-abortion violence in the United States. The murder was the first documented murder of an OB-GYN where the murderer's stated intention was to prevent a doctor from performing abortions.
George Richard Tiller was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide at the time which provided late termination of pregnancy.
Consuela Rubirosa is a fictional character, portrayed by Alana de la Garza, who joined the cast of long-running NBC drama series Law & Order during the 17th-season premiere episode "Fame". She is the only second-chair assistant district attorney (ADA) of Law & Order to have appeared in four complete seasons and the last ADA on the show before its eventual cancellation in 2010. She later appeared on Law & Order: LA as a series regular until the show's cancellation in May 2011. In January 2014, she appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where she became an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Rachelle Ranae "Shelley" Shannon is an American anti-abortion extremist who was convicted in a Kansas state court for the attempted murder of George Tiller by shooting him in his car in Wichita, Kansas in 1993. She was also convicted in U.S. federal court for ten attacks at abortion clinics using arson or acid. At her sentencing in U.S. District Court in 1995, the presiding judge described Shannon as a terrorist and agreed with prosecutors that she was a threat even from behind bars. She served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca, Minnesota and was released in November 2018.
Donald Spitz is an anti-abortion Christian activist in the United States. He lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he runs the websites of and is a spokesperson for the Army of God, an anti-abortion Christian terrorist organization that has been identified as an active underground terrorist organization by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base.
Michael Cutter is a fictional character on the long-running NBC series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit portrayed by Linus Roache. The character debuted in the eighteenth season premiere of Law & Order, broadcast on January 2, 2008, and remained until its series finale "Rubber Room" on May 24, 2010. The character returned to television in the thirteenth season premiere of Special Victims Unit, broadcast on September 21, 2011. He has appeared in sixty-three episodes of L&O and four episodes of SVU.
On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas, who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late terminations of pregnancy, was murdered by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist. Tiller was killed during a Sunday morning service at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher. Tiller had previously survived an assassination attempt in 1993 when Shelley Shannon shot him in the arms.
David Francis Leach is an American anti-abortion activist from Des Moines, Iowa. He publishes the Prayer & Action News quarterly newsletter (1989–present), and edits the website The Partnership Machine (1998–present) which covers social issues including abortion, politics, religion, immigration, divorce, sodomy, and education.
Cheryl Deann Sullenger is an American anti-abortion activist and felon. Sullenger is the senior vice president for Kansas-based Operation Rescue, an organization that works to oppose abortion and to document legal violations by abortion providers. In 1987 she was convicted and imprisoned for two years for participating in a felony attempt to bomb an abortion clinic. She has previously made false claims against individuals that have endangered their careers and lives.
William Floyd Nathaniel Harrison was an American obstetrician who delivered 6,000 babies and then switched to abortions, performing the procedure an estimated 20,000 times in his career. He became one of the only doctors in Northwest Arkansas to provide this service to women, as other physicians stopped offering to perform abortions. His Fayetteville Women's Clinic was frequently picketed and blocked by pro-life protesters.
Kermit Barron Gosnell is an American former physician and serial killer. He provided abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia. Gosnell was convicted of the murders of three infants who were born alive after using drugs to induce birth, was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the death of one woman during an abortion procedure, and was convicted of several other medically related crimes.
On November 27, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, resulting in the deaths of three people and injuries to nine. A police officer and two civilians were killed; five police officers and four civilians were injured. After a standoff that lasted five hours, police SWAT teams crashed armored vehicles into the lobby and the attacker surrendered.
Abortion in Kansas is legal. An abortion may be performed at 20 or more weeks postfertilization only in cases of life or severely compromised physical health. This law is based on the assertion that a fetus can feel pain at that point in pregnancy. The state also had detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement by 2007. Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law applied to medication-induced abortions and private doctor offices in addition to abortion clinics were in place by 2013. In 2015, Kansas became the first state to ban the dilation and evacuation procedure, a common second-trimester abortion procedure. State laws about abortion have been challenged at the Kansas Supreme Court and US Supreme Court level.
