Recent social media posts from anti-abortion group White Rose Resistance have raised concerns from pro-abortion nonprofit Cobalt. White Rose Resistance organizer Sean Bateman posted a selfie on Instagram with the caption, “Today is a kill day. Pray for me and the team as we go to plead for life at RISE Collective.” When the Boulder Police Department responded to the protesters after concerned calls from RISE staff, officers were photographed praying with Bateman.
According to a press release from Cobalt, there are four laws currently in effect that could potentially apply to the harassment in Boulder — the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), passed in 2022; the Colorado bubble law protecting health care facilities that passed in 1993; the shield law passed in 2023, and the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which took effect in 1994.
Since taking office again, President Donald Trump has worked to weaken the FACE Act. The night before the 2025 March for Life, Trump pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists who were sentenced for violating the FACE Act, which prohibits intentional property damage and the use of “force or threat of force or…physical obstruction” to “injure, intimidate or interfere with” someone entering a health care facility. In 2022, 11 of those pardoned were charged with violating the FACE act for blockading the Carafem Health Center Clinic, in Mount Juliet, Tennessee on March 5, 2021. According to a Justice Department news release at the time, “all 11 defendants violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction to intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because the clinic was providing, and the patient sought reproductive health services. All defendants will have appearances scheduled in U.S. District Court in Nashville at a later date. If convicted of the offenses, the seven conspiracy defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000. The remaining five defendants face a year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $10,000.”
While the majority of FACE Act prosecutions involve anti-abortion protesters, the law has also been used to target activists who have vandalized anti-abortion pregnancy centers following the Dobbs decision. In January 2025, two Florida residents were indicted by a federal grand jury for spray-painting threats on anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state. According to the indictment, “Caleb Freestone, 27, and Amber Smith-Stewart, 23, engaged in a conspiracy to prevent employees of reproductive health services facilities from providing those services. … As part of the conspiracy, the defendants targeted pregnancy resource facilities and vandalized those facilities with spray-painted threats. … Freestone and Smith-Stewart, and other co-conspirators, are alleged to have spray painted threats, including ‘If abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you,’ ‘YOUR TIME IS UP!!,’ ‘WE’RE COMING for U,’ and ‘We are everywhere,’ on a reproductive health services facility in Winter Haven, Florida.”
In 2023, former U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn joined Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) in introducing legislation to repeal the law. Since taking office, Trump’s Justice Department has issued directives to limit enforcement of the FACE Act to “extraordinary circumstances” or instances when death, extreme bodily harm, or significant property damage result.
On June 6 and 7, national White Rose leader Seth Gruber headlined the “Last Stand Festival” at BRAVE Church in Englewood, which included Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx, and on June 28 approximately 50 anti-abortion activists from the Colorado chapter of the White Rose Resistance rallied in front of the RISE Collective clinic in Boulder to announce that White Rose groups across Colorado will be holding similar rallies this summer.
During that event, Bateman singled out RISE and Cobalt. “The blood of these children is not only on the hands of the abortionists who literally have their blood on their hands,” he said. “It’s not only on the hands of people like Cobalt Group which are funding these abortions, but it is on each and every one of our hands because we have stood idly by and did nothing while our society praised and worshiped child sacrifice.”
Dani Newsum, Cobalt’s director of strategic partnerships, expressed concern over White Rose Resistance’s rhetoric. “The threats to providers and clinics are real,” she said in a news release. “In the case of the RISE Collective in Boulder, they are escalating daily. National anti-abortion extremists, including ones pardoned by Trump, are showing up. There are reports the clinic is being scoped out outside of operating hours, which is extremely dangerous.”
Newsum also expressed disappointment with the Boulder Police Department’s response. “So far Boulder law enforcement has been unresponsive and has not taken action to investigate the threat or the person posting it,” she said. “Ignoring real threats is not acceptable anywhere, much less in Boulder, which in recent years has experienced so much horrific violence.”
The Boulder Police Department responded to Bateman’s social media post by sending officers to the clinic. “Officers investigated this social media post and found nothing that violated the law,” said Dionne Waugh, Boulder PD public information officer, in an email. “An officer and a sergeant went to the clinic and spoke with both protesters and employees to ensure everyone’s legal rights were protected and individuals were safe.”
Following Bateman’s post about it being a “kill day,” White Rose Resistance Colorado’s Instagram posted photos from their event in Boulder. “This is the 3rd Tuesday in a row that law enforcement has been called on us, but they have been very friendly and this week even stopped and prayed with us for a bit,” read the caption. One of the photos appeared to show Boulder PD officers praying with Bateman.
“The Boulder Police Department has had a professional relationship and shared good communication with this clinic for years, especially given the safety concerns they’ve experienced,” said Waugh. “Yesterday officers responded to speak with both employees and protestors to ensure the rights of everyone were protected. As the officers were leaving, some of the protestors asked if they could say a general prayer for the safety of the officers out of respect for the dangerous job they do. The officers said yes then left. We believe strongly in impartiality and having the appearance of impartiality. We recognize how this could have been perceived when taken out of context. We will be addressing this internally.”
RISE Collective, composed of former employees of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, opened its doors and began providing abortions. RISE picks up where Dr. Warren Hern, the founder of the Boulder Abortion Clinic who retired after fifty years of practice in April, left off — as one of the few clinics in the nation offering abortions later in pregnancy. RISE offers abortions to patients who are up to 34 weeks pregnant, and this has led anti-abortion activists in Colorado to focus on the clinic, holding numerous protests and seeking to get the clinic evicted from its current location.
“None of our staff or patients feel safe,” said RISE Executive Director Alicia Moreno in an email. “Boulder fought hard for the Bubble Bill, protections for abortion care are enshrined in our city charter and our state constitution, and Cobalt is fighting even harder for application of the FACE Act, but none of those are useful if law enforcement doesn’t uphold them. We aren’t asking BPD to interpret the law, we are asking them to uphold the law equally. Terroristic threats are not protected under free speech and police praying with those who made the ‘today is kill day’ statements sends a clear — even if contradicted by their statement — signal of alignment. That is not what the people of Boulder or Colorado want or have voted for.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional comment from Boulder PD regarding their specific actions in response to Bateman’s social media posts.
