Right-wing terrorists fail to close down Pittsburgh abortion clinics

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Pro-choice clinic defenders in Cincinnati, Ohio, successfully hold back OR fanatics during June demonstration.

TE LEADI

PITTSBURGH— Anti-abortion bigots have made Pennsylvania a major national focus. The Pennsylvania legislature recently passed what has been called the most restrictive state abortion law since the July 1989 Supreme Court ruling that gave the states Iceway to restrict abortion.

At the same time, Operation Rescue (OR) and other right-wing groups are employing terrorist methods against abortion clinics here.

Last summer, Operation Rescue used an old car to block the door of a clinic in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. OR fanatics chained themselves to the car and under the car to prevent patients entering. On SELIGMAN another occasion, an arson attempt was made against the East Liberty clinic.

Last fall, OR managed to smear gallons of tar all over the interior of the downtown Women's Health Services clinic, which cost thousands of dollars to repair.

But these tactics have not deterred the clinics from remaining open and providing services to patients. The clinics have been aided by some 200 volunteer escorts, who take their turns standing on corners near clinic entrances every Saturday. These volunteers greet arriving patients and escort them past the anti-abortion fanatics and into the clinics.

Wearing bright yellow tee-shirts saying "pro-choice escort," the escorts have become a well-known fixture on Pittsburgh streets.

The pro-choice movement here was strengthened and unified by the formation of the Campaign for Abortion Rights two years ago. This organization helps coordinate and focus the efforts of a broad spectrum of groups, including the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the League of Women. Voters, the YWCA, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Women of Color for Reproductive Rights, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the United Electrical Workers union.

On Feb. 17, the Women's Health Services clinic was targeted by a new religious anti-abortion outfit called Project Multitude, which was holding its national conference at the convention center in Pittsburgh.

Abortion rights advocates began to gather at 6:15 a.m. to defend the clinic. By midmorning, police estimated that some 1200 anti-abortion and pro-choice demonstrators filled the street in front of the clinic building.

As the patients arrived, well-organized pro-choice escorts formed human wedges around them to plow a path through the crowd of anti-abortion bigots. All 37 patients were able to enter the clinic and receive treatment, although a dozen chose to enter at 6 a.m. to avoid the harassment.

Major builders of the Feb. 17 pro-choice action were NARAL (which organized the clinic escorts), NOW, and the Campaign for Abortion Rights.

On the legal front, the ACLU and other pro-choice forces won a victory on Jan. 11, when a federal district judge placed an injunction on enforcement of two key provisions of Pennsylvania's new restrictive law on abortions. The court ruled against sections requiring a 24-hour waiting period before any abortion, and on requiring notification of the woman's husband.

The new law, which took effect Jan. 16, bans all abortions after the 24th week, unless the life or permanent health of the woman is endangered. It also bans all abortions for the reason of sex-selection (which virtually never takes place).

Despite this victory, the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1989 is an attack on women's rights. Doctors who perform abortions have spoken out against the new law, pointing to the chilling effect of the threat of felony charges against doctors.

"To this point, there has been no criminal liability [in performing abortions]," said Dr. Morris Turner of the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center in East Liberty. "We're talking crime here. We're talking jail. It's very disheartening."

Doctors now face seven years in prison and fines of up to $15,000 for violating the 24-week limit or the sex-selection ban.

On Jan. 6, Dr. Turner's office was attacked by a crowd of anti-abortion protesters. Twenty-three were arrested. The pro-choice escorts have offered their services to doctors who have been under attack, but so far they have simply demanded police protection.

Speaking of the anti-abortion terrorists, Dr. Turner vowed, "I am not going to let a group like this change me."

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