She Burned Abortion Clinic, Must Pay $298K

Lorna Roxanne Green also will serve 5 years in prison for setting fire to Wyoming's only full-service clinic
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 28, 2023 12:45 PM CST
Woman Who Torched Abortion Clinic Must Pay $298K
Lorna Roxanne Green.   (Platte County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

A judge has ordered a woman who set fire to Wyoming's only full-service abortion clinic to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, the full amount sought by prosecutors. Lorna Green is serving five years in prison for burning Wellspring Health Access weeks before the clinic was set to open in Casper in 2022. The fire gutted the building while it was being renovated for the new clinic and delayed its opening by almost a year, reports the AP. After opening this past April, Wellspring is now the only abortion clinic in Wyoming. A clinic in Jackson that provided pill abortions closed Dec. 15 due to rising costs. On Tuesday, US District Judge Alan Johnson ordered Green, 22, to pay about $298,000 in restitution, including $240,000 to Nationwide General Insurance Company, the clinic's insurer.

Green must also pay $33,500 to the building's owner, Christine Lichtenfels, and $24,500 to Julie Burkhart, founder and president of Wellspring Health Access. Burkhart expressed satisfaction with the restitution. "Not only did we have the emotional struggle and that trauma from the arson, but also it was quite challenging for us financially. So I'm glad this is the final piece and it has been put to rest," Burkhart said. The restitution was identical to the amounts sought by prosecutors and unopposed by Green's attorney, Ryan Semerad, who said Green "looks forward to a productive and peaceful life after her term of incarceration."

Green has expressed remorse for the crime, which she said was driven by anxiety and nightmares about the planned clinic. The Casper College mechanical engineering student had shown no sign of anti-abortion views on social media but told investigators she opposed abortion. She admitted driving from Laramie to Casper, breaking into the clinic through a door and lighting gasoline she poured in trays and splashed on the floor. After months of little progress, investigators increased the reward to $15,000 and got tips leading to Green's arrest in March. Green pleaded guilty in June to arson and in September received the minimum prison sentence. She had faced up to 20 years in prison. (More abortion clinic stories.)

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