(The Lion) — A California woman has admitted to menacing a federal judge in Texas over his decision to pause access to a popular chemical abortion agent.

In a May 16 plea agreement, Dolly Kay Patterson said she threatened U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas in Amarillo via the court’s website.

“Tell this antiabortion judge he needs to watch his back – and that of his kids – the rest of his life!” she reportedly wrote about one week after his ruling.

During a March 2023 hearing, Kacsmaryk referenced a “barrage” of death threats, harassing phone calls and voicemails since the start of the lawsuit.

He decided to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the so-called “abortion pill,” in April 2023.

A June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling nullified this decision, ruling the original plaintiffs had no standing. Several states, including Idaho, Missouri and Kansas, have pending litigation in the matter.

Patterson is now the second woman to take a federal plea agreement for making threats against Kacsmaryk. Her sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 30.

Florida woman Alice Marie Pence pleaded guilty in June 2024 to calling Kacsmaryk in his chambers March 12, 2023, and threatening him just before his ruling in the case.

She reportedly told him to “watch out for the red dot on your forehead” and to make “the right decision.” In November 2024, she was sentenced to prison for 10 months.

The Patterson case came during a nationwide surge in threats against judges, according to Reuters. The surge has caused some federal judges to press Congress for more security funds for themselves and their families.

U.S. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve requested a 19% increase May 14 in security funds for 2026 before a U.S. House of Representatives panel. The increase would raise the total for security to $892 million nationwide.

Research has shown a documented increase in threats and even attacks against pro-life judges, institutions and churches since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision.

Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wrote a pointed letter to then Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on June 24, 2022.

In their letter, they demanded information on how the departments planned to keep the Supreme Court’s justices and their families safe amid increased attacks and threats from extremists.

The increase began when the Supreme Court’s draft ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson was leaked illegally to the media, according to the senators.

They warned of even more violence following the release of the formal decision that day, pointing out several crisis pregnancy centers, churches and other institutions had already been targeted.

“This morning, the Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturns Roe v. Wade,” they wrote. “Over the past few weeks, in the wake of the unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion, there has been a disturbing rise in threats against Supreme Court Justices and the Court itself. Justices have had their addresses published online, have been subjected to illegal pressure campaigns at their family homes, and one Justice was even the victim of an attempted assassination.

“These violent extremists are only trying to make this volatile situation worse. … Now that the Court has decided to overturn Roe, we must take their words seriously.”

Ultimately, the senators urged Garland and Mayorkas “to take all necessary steps to protect the Supreme Court and other likely targets.”