A woman is accused of attacking cops after allegedly throwing eggs and a dead raccoon at an abortion clinic in the US.
The bizarre incident happened at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center in Cuyahoga Falls on August 15 and the suspect was later identified as Melissa Strelec, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.
She is said to have thrown eggs at volunteers of the centre, who had to shield themselves with umbrellas.
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Footage of the incident obtained by the Journal allegedly shows Ms Strelec leaving the abortion clinic in her car. But just an hour later she is said to have returned and left a bag at the clinic's door.
To their horror and unsure whether there was an explosive inside, staff opened the bag and found the dead raccoon.
“We honestly didn’t know if it was an explosive or what it was,” a volunteer who chose to remain anonymous told the Journal.
“We were panicked.”
Medical assistant Krista Mills said: “There [were] flies all over it and it smelled horrible.
"It was nerve-wracking and honestly scary."
It was when Ms Strelec allegedly fled the scene for a second time that she is said to have become confrontational with police, before she then "struck officers".
Ms Strelec has since been charged with criminal mischief and littering in Stow Municipal Court.
Clinic workers and volunteers told the Journal said that attacks on abortion centre staff had increased since the Supreme Court’s overruling in June of the landmark Roe v Wade ruling.
“There’s a little more anger now because they assumed we would close, and that’s not the case,” clinic director Dr David Burkons said.
“They thought [this] would be it for us, so they’re angry we’re still here.”
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As well as enforcing its six-week last menstrual period (LMP ban), the state’s Heartbeat Law prevents medical staff from performing the procedure if a heartbeat is found – except for cases of medical emergencies and when the life of the mother is in danger.
An abortion cannot be performed without first checking for a heartbeat, the law also states.
The news comes after a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape was refused an abortion under the new rules against abortion in the US.
She was six weeks pregnant but was left unable to have a termination after the state of Ohio changed its laws to outlaw abortions after six weeks, just hours after the controversial overturning of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court.
Three days after the ruling was made, the child attended a hospital in the state, where a child abuse doctor discovered she was pregnant, according to local media. But there was nothing she could do.
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The girl went across the state border to Indiana to undergo a termination, where a more liberal abortion regime remains in place.
However, there are fears that this route could soon be closed to even the most vulnerable women and girls, as state legislatures across the country suggest that fellow states will be confined to the same abortion restrictions in place in Ohio.
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