Planned Parenthood said that news reports that the gunman who attacked its Colorado health clinic had uttered "no more baby parts" during his arrest showed the suspect was motivated by an anti-abortion agenda.
The remark attributed to suspect Robert Lewis Dear was an apparent reference to Planned Parenthood's abortion activities and its role in delivering fetal tissue to medical researchers, a hot-button issue in the 2016 race for the presidency.
"We now know the man responsible for the tragic shooting at PP's health center in Colorado was motivated by opposition to safe and legal abortion," the organization said on Twitter.
Conservatives have accused Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit that provides a range of health services, including abortion, of illegally selling baby parts, an accusation it has strenuously denied.
Dear, a 57-year-old South Carolina native who moved to Colorado, made the remarks during his arrest after a standoff lasting several hours at the Colorado Springs clinic on Friday, NBC News and other media outlets reported, citing unnamed law enforcement authorities. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the reports.
While Dear's reported remarks could hint at a possible motive for the rampage, which killed three people and wounded nine, NBC's sources stressed that investigators were still not sure why the attack was launched.
Authorities have steadfastly declined to discuss a motive, saying their investigation was still under way.
Colorado Springs police, in a tweet on Sunday, said unofficial leaks could jeopardize the investigation and prosecution, without specifically mentioning the words attributed to Dear.
Dear, who appeared to have moved to a remote community in Colorado last year, has been jailed ahead of a court appearance scheduled for Monday.
The shooting is believed to be the first deadly attack at an abortion provider in the United States in six years. The Colorado Springs center has been repeatedly targeted for protests by anti-abortion activists.
At least eight workers at clinics providing abortions have been killed since 1977, according to the National Abortion Federation. The most recent was in 2009 when physician George Tiller was shot to death at a church in Wichita, Kansas.
While calling the shooting “an incredible tragedy,” Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Sunday dismissed talk that harsh anti-abortion rhetoric may have contributed to the attack.