Call to Action

Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
From: garvin+@cs.cmu.edu (Susan Garvin)
Message-ID: 
Newsgroups: talk.abortion

In article <2hemm8$qaf@news.u.washington.edu>,
The Grim Reaper  wrote:

[everything else deleted]

#People do have a right to demonstrate.  And yes, some (many?) pro-life
#demonstrations go beyond that.  That's why they get dragged off by police.

They're not always "dragged off by the police."  That was the point.

Read the testimony of "Silvia Doe," a woman who was subjected to
the harassment of Operation Rescue in Wichita in 1991.  Here,
she describes some of the actions of the police during her
ordeal:

[Ms. Doe and others were told by police to wait in their cars until
the clinic door was cleared of demonstrators.]

     "While we were sitting in these cars, we were made to roll
down our windows and listen to people come up and tell us why we
shouldn't have abortions; that abortion kills; we would be
murderers.  A priest came up who wanted to save us.  We were
told we had to roll our window down to listen to keep everything
safe.  We were made to listen to a doctor and one of Operation
Rescue's leaders.
     People would lay down in front of cars so that we--

Mr. Schumer.  Excuse me, Ms. Doe.  Who told you that, the police?

Ms. Doe.  The police, yes."

Read the testimony of Kathryn Maxwell, a woman who was experiencing
a high risk pregnancy and was prevented from receiving prenatal
care because of protesters:

     "I approached one of the policemen that were stationed
outside the building and told him that these people were
interfering with my right to see my doctor.  He told me
he couldn't do anything because, if he did, there could be
a potential riot."

Read the testimony of Marne J. Greening, a clinic director
in South Bend:

     "Then, almost one year after the permanent injunction
was granted, approximately 90 protesters led by 'Baby John
Doe 2805' blockaded all access to the clinic.  [The injunction
prohibited tresspassing on clinic property, harassing staff
and patients, photographing or writing down license plate
numbers, and coming within 10 feet of the clinic, its
patients or employees.]  From the adjacent property I
summoned the South Bend police at 8:15 a.m. and at 8:42
a.m. a squad car drove up, conveying instructions from
the police chief that they take no action until he arrived.
In the meantime county officers had arrived at the scene,
reviewed the injunction and determined that the protesters
should be arrested for violating the injunction.  When
the South Bend city police chief arrived at 10:00 a.m., he
instructed that the county police refrain from making
arrests and invited organizers of the blockade inside the
clinic.  Once inside, he conducted negotiations despite my
protests without consulting me for any input.  At 10:30,
the police chief allowed all protesters to leave and made
no arrests.  Police instructed patients arriving during
the barricade to leave and reschedule appointments."

Finally, read the testimony of James T. Hickey, sheriff of
Nueces County, Texas:

     "When man's law fails, I must look to a higher law
because I will not be a party to the slaughter of an
innocent human being.  If requested to remove rescuers
from abortuary [sic] doors, I have said I will not, because
that last rescuer moved is the last chance for life for
a child whose right to life can only be abrogated by God."


You should also note that the U.S. Dept. of Justice joined
O.R. in challenging Judge Kelly's orders in Wichita, and
also filed an amicus brief on the side of O.R. in _Bray
v. Alexandria._

Susan

[All quotes are from "Clinic Blockades:  Hearing 1 the
Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the Committee
of the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 102nd Congress,
Second Session, May 6, 1992," Serial No. 79.]