Death Threats to Planned Parenthood Could Send Man to Prison for Six Years
Ventura County Man Made Anonymous Phone Calls to Health-Care Providers and Population-Stabilization Group
The highly anticipated Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson, which overturned the abortion rights established in Roe v Wade, prompted Nishith Tharaka Vandebona, 34, of Camarillo to call Santa Barbara–based Planned Parenthood California Central Coast the same day, leaving a message that contained death threats. On Monday in the federal court in Los Angeles, Vandebona pleaded guilty to making that threat on June 24, 2022, and to making other anonymous threats.
Vandebona had assembled anonymous phone numbers before making the calls and proceeded to call Planned Parenthood Los Angeles twice on the 25th, again making dire threats. Earlier in February, he had called Californians for Population Stabilization, based in Ventura, to make a bomb threat.
Vandebona faces a maximum sentence of one year for the misdemeanor violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and five years for using interstate commerce to transmit threatening messages. The sentencing hearing for his term in federal prison is set for October 2.
The U.S. Attorney’s office advised that incidents of violence, threats, and obstruction that targets patients or providers of reproductive health-care or their facilities may be reported to the FBI at tips@fbi.gov.
