Woman Who Set Fire to Wyoming’s Only Clinic That Offers Abortions Gets 5 Years, Must Pay $300,000

A Wyoming judge has ordered a woman to pay almost $300,000 and spend five years in prison after she set the state’s only full-service abortion clinic on fire. 

Lorna Green was convicted of burning down Wellspring Health Access in 2022 just weeks before the clinic was set to open in Casper, delaying its opening for nearly a year, per reporting from ABC News. 

The clinic finally opened in April and is now the only abortion clinic in the state after a clinic in Jackson that provided pill abortions closed Dec. 15 due to increasing costs. 

The clinic eventually opened as new laws in Wyoming aim to ban abortion in almost all forms. However, those laws are on hold amid a lawsuit filed by four women and two nonprofits, including Wellspring Health Access. 

Green was sentenced Tuesday when U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson also ordered Green to pay about $298,000 in restitution including $240,000 to Nationwide General Insurance Company. 

The 22-year-old was ordered to pay $33,500 to Christine Lichtenfels, the building’s owner, and $24,500 to Julie Burkhart, the founder and president of Wellspring Health Access. 

The convict reportedly conveyed remorse for her crime, which she contended was instigated by anxiety and nightmares about the clinic. Green showed no signs of anti-abortion views on social media, but she did tell investigators that she opposed abortion, per the outlet.