IED laid in Austin clinic parking lot

The sources asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation.

Officials have not commented on any possible suspects or motives.

The package was found about 2 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the Austin Women's Health Center at 1902 S. Interstate 35, north of Oltorf Street. The clinic provides services including abortion.

The southbound feeder road remained closed much of the evening, and I-35 was closed briefly in both directions while authorities used a detonation device to open the container about 6 p.m.

Officials from the city's Homeland Defense Team, which includes police officers and firefighters, were called to the scene. Other Austin officers, the department's emergency ordinance disposal unit and officials from the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also on the scene.

The incident comes at a time when abortion rights are sparking much debate in the United States and abroad. The U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, and lawmakers in Mexico this week approved a measure that would allow first-trimester abortions in Mexico City.

It's not the first time a local women's health clinic has been at the center of controversy.

Earlier this decade, The construction of a Planned Parenthood facility in Austin was delayed when anti-abortion advocates launched a telephone and e-mail campaign against contractors who supplied goods or services to the construction of the 20,000-square-foot facility on East Ben White Boulevard.

As a result, the building's original general contractor, San Antonio-based Browning Construction Co. withdrew from the project in November 2003. Planned Parenthood opted to serve as its own general contractor and didn't release the names of its subcontractors to try and protect them from a renewed call campaign.

According to the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada, there have been 32 major incidents of violence or disruption against abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada in the first three months of 2007. There were seven reported bomb threats and four attempted bombings or arsons in 2006. As of March 2007, there have been five hoax devices or suspicious packages reported at clinics.

More than 200 arsons and bombings have occurred at reproductive health-care clinics across the United States and Canada since the mid-1970s, according to the National Abortion Federation's Web site.

An arson incident in 2002 was the last major violence against a Texas clinic. Major instances of violence against abortion clinics and providers is declining, according to the abortion federation.

There has not been a murder or attempted murder since 2000. But harassment and hate mail is going up, according to the National Abortion Federation. Federal laws, such as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act passed in 1994, were intended to help protect clinics.

Staff writer Elizabeth Campbell contributed to this report.