I figured Julie Burkhart – an abortion care provider whose Wyoming clinic was torched a few years ago – would be tough as nails. What I didn’t expect, as we spoke over Zoom recently, was that I’d be complimenting Burkhart on her actual nails. Turns out, her daughter got married recently, and “I got these done for the wedding,” Burkhart told me, twisting both hands in front of the camera to show off her ballet-slipper manicure. 

That Burkhart, named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list, can enjoy moments of lightness speaks to the resilience she’s honed amid a career marred by violence, death threats and vicious harassment. A longtime fighter for women’s reproductive freedom, she has been called a hero by abortion-rights supporters and “Julie Darkheart” (and much worse) by detractors. She bought a gun after her boss, Dr. George Tiller, a provider of late-term abortions, was assassinated in 2009. She re-opened his Wichita, Kansas, clinic just a few years later. 

Burkhart’s passion has long been helping women in rural and conservative areas of the country access abortion care. In addition to clinics in Kansas, Illinois and her home state of Oklahoma, she has turned her attention to Wyoming, a red state with an independent streak. In 2022, before she could even open Wellspring Health Access, the state’s only surgical abortion clinic, it was burned by an arsonist – a young woman who is now serving five years in prison. The clinic was rebuilt, but it’s still facing legal challenges (and shutdowns) amid an increasingly conservative state legislature.

I spoke to Burkhart about her long career, managing fear, and the state of abortion care in the U.S, three years since the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health decision significantly eroded women’s reproductive freedom. 

Responses are lightly edited for length and clarity.

Is your Wyoming clinic fully open right now?

Yes. Do you want me to walk you through the tumultuous timeline?

I would love that. 

I was approached in 2020 by a wonderful advocate in Wyoming, who asked me if I would be interested in opening a clinic there. I had looked at the state previously and thought it definitely needed services. I did some homework, had some conversations, and decided to open the clinic in Casper [the second-largest city, after Cheyenne]. We were just a few weeks away from opening it, in May 2022.

That’s around when the draft opinion was leaked, that suggested the Supreme Court would overturn Roe.

It was on May 6 when we all saw the leaked opinion. I was actually sitting on a plane and getting ready to take off, and I let out this little audible squeal because I found the opinion to be so absolutely shocking.

We also knew the Wyoming legislature had already passed a statute that if Roe were to fall, then we would immediately have an abortion ban in place. So we were trying to get the clinic open as soon as possible, to make sure that we would have standing in front of the court. 

You were really scrambling when the arson happened on May 25, 2022. Can you tell me how you found out? 

My phone rang just before six o’clock in the morning. When I saw our contractor’s name pop up on my caller ID, I was like, “This is not going to be good. There’s no reason on God’s green earth for the contractor to call early in the morning like this unless something’s happened.” He said, “Well, Julie,” he said, “the building’s on fire. You better get down here.”

Burkhart raced down to the clinic, the interior of which suffered an estimated $300,000 in damages, with exam tables and other equipment blackened and burnt to the point of melting. A security video (see above) later showed an arsonist dousing the clinic with gasoline.

Emotionally, did this situation bring back all of what you went through when Dr. Tiller was assassinated?

It absolutely did. I really feel like I suffered some PTSD after that. I can tell you that after I came back home after the arson happened, I literally sat on my back porch all day the next day and I just cried. It was incredibly traumatizing.

Despite the setback, you managed to open the clinic 11 months later. Where did the funds actually come from to build a full-scale clinic?

From our individual donors, just from people like me and you who care about reproductive rights.

How are you able to operate the clinic legally in Wyoming, which technically has a state abortion ban?

Our main argument is that the constitution in the state of Wyoming provides for the protection of health care, and within health care is abortion care. Historically, Wyoming wasn’t really that concerned with regulating abortion. 

As a Western state, Wyoming has a “cowboy” mentality, and a tradition of individual freedom.

That’s absolutely correct. Although now, I can say after Donald Trump was elected to his first term, we started to see these more Trump-like candidates get elected in Wyoming, so there’s definitely been a shift in the legislature. This is one reason why we are seeing more of these bills that meddle in people’s lives when it comes to abortion care, transgender care … issues that really should remain solely with the people. I call them Trump-ites. We’ve seen more of them elected to the legislature, and hence we’ve seen a slew of bills.

Earlier this year, the clinic was shut down as you fought a new state regulation requiring abortion clinics to be licensed surgical centers. 

Yes. We got an injunction on that case regarding a TRAP law [the acronym, used by abortion-access advocates, stands for “targeted regulation of abortion provider.”] We had a lot of wrangling to do in court, but after seven weeks of not being able to provide abortion services, we were finally able to reopen [in mid-April]. 

We have to file yet another lawsuit in Wyoming, because they’re wanting to ban the use of any medications that are used to induce abortion. It goes into effect July 1. We hope that we’ll have an injunction before then.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all this, you’ve been able to serve about 600 patients.

Yes. We have had people who have come from 19 different states across the country. We serve people predominantly from Wyoming, the Dakotas, especially South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah. That is a product of Roe having fallen, which is quite unfortunate that you would have to travel so many miles.

What would you like to see, going forward? 

What I feel needs to be next is really figuring out a way that we can talk about abortion, reproductive healthcare, without it being marginalized from mainstream healthcare. We’re not talking about some fringy medical treatment here. 

Also, I would love to focus on building back political power in states that have been disenfranchised. That’s heartbreaking for me. I’ve always had such a big investment in providing care in places that are more out of the way, more remote … flyover country, right? Places that aren’t on your vacation bucket list, but people live there, they have their families there. 

In thinking about a way forward for us as a country, let’s think about what people everywhere need and deserve. That’s a deep motivator for my work.

How different would things have been, do you think, if Kamala Harris had been elected as opposed to Trump?

Oh, wow. One of the things that comes to mind is that people like myself, my colleagues, our goal was to be part of her advisory council to really help to shape equitable health care delivery. That’s a dream that just went out the window.

You’ve worked for someone who was assassinated, and your clinic was fire-bombed. How are you personally able to withstand all that? 

Abortion care is something that’s always been very near and dear to my heart. That makes it easier, because I’ve been so passionate about what I do. When Dr. Tiller died, it was this big reckoning, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to even continue working in this field. It really made me evaluate what life means for me, and what I’m willing to do and not do. 

I just feel that fear is almost this façade. If we can walk through it, even though it’s so frightening and scary and paralyzing, it’s okay on the other side. That’s the way I’ve mentally pictured that in my head. Also, not to be personally reckless, right? Be smart about what you’re doing.  ◼️

People can find information on abortion from various resources, including Plan C, I Need An A and AbortionFinder.