OR leader Randall Terry acquitted in L.A. trial

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OR supporter being arrested during attempt to shut down women's health clinic in L.A. Terry tries to cloak his anti-women campaign in a "progressive" cloth. 4 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1989 LOS ANGELES—In last month's trial of Operation Rescue (OR) leader Randall Terry, anti-abortion demagoguery was used effectively to sway a Municipal Court jury. In reaching a not-guilty verdict, the jurors either misunderstood or ignored the law and the judge's instructions.

On Sept. 13, Terry and four other anti-abortion leaders were acquitted of charges of misdemeanor conspiracy, trespassing, and other counts for their part in a clinic blockade on March 25.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Richard A. Paez made only half-hearted attempts to keep the court sessions from becoming a one-sided diatribe in favor of the goals of Operation Rescue. At the same time, the prosecution failed to counter OR by presenting the pro-choice case. Operation Rescue's definitions and its conception of the events also went unchallenged by the district attorney.

The use of OR double-talk frequently forced the judge to threaten the defendants with contempt. OR described their acts that blocked women from having access to health clinics as "rescues." The clinics were referred to as "killing centers," "abortuaries," "abortion mills," and "abortion chambers." Family planning became the "death industry."

Pro-choice activists were labeled "murderers," fetuses were called "children," and the judiciary was "the lapdog of the death industry." Resisting arrest became "defending ourselves against police brutality."

One main defense argument that gained credit with the jury was that OR's opponents in key government posts put political pressure on the police to violently arrest and abuse anti-abortion blockaders. This was based on the flimsy contention that Los Angeles city-council member Michael Woo had urged that the law be "vigorously enforced."

OR maintained that "vigorously" meant the use of excessive force. In reality, many LAPD officers are openly anti-abortion.

Courtroom theatrics

Terry broke into theatrical sobs numerous times on the witness stand. Once, when describing the funeral services held for a fetus that he had nicknamed "Baby Choice," Terry's voice cracked and he sobbed convulsively. After the judge ordered a half-hour recess, Terry remained hunched on the witness stand, his back to the courtroom. His shoulders were heaving and he continually wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

The prosecution's main contention was that the anti-abortion blockaders might have been acting with good intentions, but that such motives were no defense for breaking the law. This fell right into Operation Rescue's hands. OR maintained that it was upholding a "higher order" of justice than the law.

This argument was maintained even after Kathleen O'Nan/Socialist Action the judge had ruled that "there is no way it can be shown that abortions were stopped that day." The judge said, in effect, that OR could not use the defense of necessity since it hadn't prevented "the greater harm of abortions" from taking place.

A five-week avalanche of anti-abortion hyperbole swept the DA's case away. The judge failed to rule a mistrial even after he admitted the "circus-like atmosphere" of the trial.

In similar municipal cases in San Diego