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Back in May of 2022, Wyoming resident Lorna Green set fire to the only full-service abortion clinic in the state. Green burnt down Wellspring Health Access right before the clinic was scheduled to open and delayed the opening for almost a year due to the damages inflicted on the building. The clinic, situated in Casper, Wyoming, finally opened in April of 2023, becoming the state's only abortion clinic.
Green was later apprehended and was handed a five-year prison sentence. On Tuesday, December 26, she was ordered by a judge to pay a restitution of almost $300,000, the full amount requested by prosecutors, to the people and institutions affected by her actions.
Lorna Green's expensive abortion clinic saga
Abortion clinic Wellspring Health Access was all set to open shop in Casper, Wyoming, in 2022. Still, a nasty incident led to the abortion clinic's opening being delayed for almost a full year. The building was being renovated in May last year, only a few weeks before the official opening, when an unlikely and unfortunate visitor visited it.
On May 25, Wyoming's Lorna Green, who drove from Laramie to Casper, threw a rock onto the window of the building under renovation and broke into the place through the door. Green splashed lighter fluid throughout the building, including on the aluminum pans, before viciously setting the whole place ablaze. Wellspring Health Access burnt down on May 25.
Associated Press reported that the building was "gutted," and the 2022 opening became a distant dream. Arsonist Lorna Green, on the other hand, was not identified for months before the police increased the rewards for tips leading to Green's arrest to $15,000, which eventually led to the apprehension of the Casper mechanical engineering student in March of this year.
Lorna Green was arrested and pleaded guilty to an arson charge in June. Although not a vocal online anti-abortion activist, Lorna said that she did not like abortion, and the Clinic opening gave her anxiety and nightmares. Hence, she decided to burn down the place. She expressed some remorse for her actions.
Green could have received a maximum sentence of up to 20 years, but in September 2023, she ended up receiving the minimum 5-year prison sentence. She is currently serving her time in prison. After her sentence, she will also undergo a 3-year supervised release period.
However, Wellspring Health Access did open almost a year later, in April 2023. The clinic is now the only full-service abortion clinic in the entire state of Wyoming. On Tuesday, Lorna Green was hit with another blow as a judge ordered her to pay $298,000 in restitution.
Out of the $298,000, a whopping $240,000 went to the abortion clinic's insurance provider, Nationwide General Insurance Company. Christine Lichtenfels, the owner of the burnt-down building, received $33,500, and Wellspring Health Access founder Julie Burkhart received $24,500. Burkhart said in a statement to The Associated Press:
"Not only did we have the emotional struggle and that trauma from the arson but also it was quite challenging for us financially. So I’m glad this is the final piece and it has been put to rest,"
This was the total amount that the prosecutors had requested and even went unopposed by Lorna Green's attorney, Ryan Semerad. Semerad said in a statement to The Associated Press that the incarcerated woman looked forward to a "productive and peaceful life" after her prison sentence.
