Representatives of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) explained that it detected hackers’ attempts to gain access to the abortion providers’ employee information systems. Planned Parenthood has already notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice of a possible data breach, which could threaten the privacy and safety of the organization’s staff members.

Planned Parenthood positions itself as the most trusted women’s healthcare provider in the United States, and it is understandable that anti-abortion extremists have always been trying to stop women from accessing the reproductive healthcare they are seeking. There were many cases when they have broken laws, harassed Planned Parenthood’s doctors and patients and produced hack videos. Now, in the age of online social life, they seem to be claiming to have committed a gross invasion of privacy, which could potentially put the organization’s employees at risk.

The representatives of the abortion provider explained they have evidence that the intruders launched an attack on their information systems. According to their claims, the extremists have called on the world’s most sophisticated hackers to assist them in breaching PPFA’s systems and threatening the privacy and safety of its employees.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced that they were still investigating whether the intruders really gained access to systems, and refused to provide details about where or how their systems may have been attacked until the investigation ends. According to media reports, the potential data hack was first revealed by the Daily Dot, which cited a hacker group named “3301” as taking responsibility for the attack (however, this information is still officially unconfirmed). 3301 refers to a well-known online puzzle.

It should be noted that Planned Parenthood was targeted 2 weeks after an anti-abortion group started releasing undercover videos of PPFA’s executives discussing fetal tissue procurement. The footage has served as a rallying cry for anti-choice politicians to defund the organization, even though no legal wrongdoing was shown in the videos. Previously, Planned Parenthood called hacker attacks a “new low” for anti-abortion activists.