Anti-abortion group Texas encourages kidnapping on way clinic. An anti-abortion group has vehemently denied it urged extremists to kidnap women on the way to terminate their pregnancies after another group made the suggestion on its Facebook page.

A group known as “Praying for you” posted on the Abolish Human Abortion Facebook page urging them to kidnap women by pretending to be involved with Cicada Collective, an anonymous community organisation that provides abortion services to women.

Texas is one of the strictest states in the US for its laws on abortion. Earlier this month, a federal courtallowed new abortion restrictions that require doctors performing abortions to have privileges to admit patients to nearby hospitals. It also limits the use of abortion-inducing drugs.

Praying for you suggested Abolish Human Abortion supporters should infiltrate the Cicada Collective by pretending to volunteer for the organisation as drivers. It also shared a contact email for the collective.

“It’s the email address being used by a group backed by Fund Texas Women and Lilith Fund looking around for volunteers to shuttle women around for their abortion appointments,” it said.

“Consider volunteering yourself. I’m not suggesting you actually take a woman to an abortion clinic but it’s a wonderful opportunity to minister to an abortion minded woman for an hour while you don’t take her to her clinic.

“And hey, even if you can’t change her mind, by the time she gets out of your car and realises she is at a church and not the clinic she’s missed her appointment anyway.”

Cicada Collective was made aware of the post and warned women about the threat: “Anti-choicers attempting to infiltrate was bound to happen at some point right? Here is a concerning message we got this morning. Other groups out there wanting to provide practical support to people seeking abortion care in Texas, pleasebe careful.”