These incidents illustrate the real-world consequences of Trump and DOJ policies emboldening antiabortion extremism.
Antiabortion group invasions and disruptions are surging dramatically since Trump’s pardon of 23 convicted extremists, and California is becoming ground zero for aggressive tactics by extremist groups. The group “Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust” (Survivors) is at the forefront of these actions, coordinating intimidation campaigns against pharmacies, clinics and local city councils.
A New Frontline in the Abortion Wars: Pharmacies
In the latest assault on reproductive healthcare access, Survivors members are organizing invasions of big box pharmacies that dispense abortion medication. On Feb. 27 the group stormed a CVS location in Southern California, where Survivors “missionaries”—megaphones in hand—confronted employees and customers with graphic signs and angry, deceptive antiabortion rhetoric. “CVS Pharmacy is selling the chemical abortion pill,” one member shouted through the store. “That is not healthcare, that is commercialized murder.”
Another Survivors member followed with misleading claims about mifepristone, calling for economic retaliation: “Boycott CVS. We can go somewhere else for our needs without donating our money to the abortion industry.”
The store manager, visibly distressed, repeatedly called to “Close the pharmacy” while signaling staff to take emergency measures. Patients seeking prescriptions—whether for abortion or other needs—faced an unsafe and unwelcoming environment. Furthermore, these protests add to the already high-stress levels experienced by pharmacy staff, who are simply doing their jobs by dispensing legally approved medications.
Similar invasions occurred on Jan. 18 in Grand Terrace, California, when Survivors invaded CVS and Walgreens locations in one day. Survivors Outreach Coordinator Edgar Alvarez condemned the pharmacies for “dispensing the abortion pill,” while the group adamantly refused employees’ requests to leave the premises. Instead, protestors raised their voices and defiantly remained, terrorizing everyone in the pharmacy.
Escalation: From Pharmacy Disruptions to Planned Parenthood Event Ambush
On March 6, Survivors executed a frighteningly sophisticated operation against a Planned Parenthood Orange County fundraising luncheon. The multi-pronged attack included:
- Two members hiding under the stage for over nine hours before leaping out to terrorize speakers and attendees
- Outreach Director Tim Clement simultaneously bursting through the private luncheon doors to disrupt the event
- Outreach Coordinator Edgar Alvarez creating a diversion at the hotel entrance
- Other members posing as legitimate guests to infiltrate the event
The group later boasted about their strategy: “While some of our team was disrupting outside the hotel and team members were conversing with Planned Parenthood staff in the hallways of the event, we had some of our team hiding under the Planned Parenthood stage all night ready to infiltrate their event the next morning.”
Costa Mesa Police arrested three members, including Tim Clement, following the dramatic invasion.
Intimidating City Councils and Blocking Clinic Openings
The extremist group also continues to try and bully municipal governments in California into blocking clinics from opening, and prevent them from passing legislation affirming LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. The group led a successful campaign to keep the DuPont clinic from opening in Beverly Hills by manipulating the City Council into pressuring a local landlord to rescind DuPont’s lease. In Fontana, extremists pressured City Council members to vote for a moratorium on construction covering an area of the downtown where Planned Parenthood was set to remodel a building and open a clinic. Most recently, on March 18, Survivors members caravanned to Ventura to disrupt a city council meeting discussing proposed legislation affirming LGBTQ+, immigrant and reproductive rights. Survivors Outreach Coordinator Edgar Alvarez’s disruptive behavior led to his removal from the meeting by police.
These tactics represent a dangerous escalation in attacks on reproductive rights and healthcare access in blue states. By deploying misinformation, intimidation and public shaming, Survivors is creating an environment where people seeking medical care, especially abortion care, feel unsafe and unwelcome.
As reproductive rights face mounting challenges nationwide, these incidents illustrate the real-world consequences of emboldened antiabortion extremism—a chilling effect on healthcare access, increased vulnerability for patients and a movement seeking to impose its beliefs through coercion and violence. Reproductive healthcare providers and communities are urging the California Attorney General to investigate these tactics and take immediate action.
