It's been nearly 40 years since the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, but abortion doctors say they're still forced to work in a shadowy world.
At a recent panel hosted by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, event organizers told BuzzFeed's Anna North they couldn't publicize one speaker's name because of the constant threats to his safety.
Dr. Curtis Boyd started performing abortions in the '60s, before they were legal, after watching a high school classmate struggle through an unwanted pregnancy.
And while the Supreme Court has since legalized the procedure, the opposition to Boyd's work is still so strong the FBI considers him "a major target for assassination by anti-abortion extremists," BuzzFeed reported Friday.
The PRCH couldn't even publicly announce the location of the panel, out of fear for Boyd's life.
"They're much more concerned about that than I am," Boyd said about the FBI. "I choose to do it because it's important and I accept the risks that go with it. I do not live my life in fear."
Doctors who perform abortions have increasingly been concerned for their safety since the 2009 assassination of Dr. George Tiller.
Tiller was shot to death in 2009 in the foyer of his church, The New York Times reported at the time. Scott Roeder was convicted of murder in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison, according to The Wichita Eagle.
Boyd, who is an ordained Baptist minister and now belongs to the Unitarian church, is one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions, WFAA TV reported in 2009.
He stepped into that role after Tiller, a close friend, was killed — a move that has earned him his share of enemies.
"I don't want the fate that befell Dr. Tiller, but I'm not going to be deterred because what I'm doing is important," Boyd told the TV station.
DON'T MISS: Mother's Death Causes Big Backlash Against Ireland's Abortion Laws >
Please follow Law & Order on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
