Campaign to assist victimized Boston clinic defender continues

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Women defend clinic in Minneapolis. In Boston, Mary A. was arrested for doing the same thing-protecting a woman's right to reproductive healthcare.

and SUSAN FARLEY BOSTON-On Jan. 13 of this year, Mary A., a pro-choice clinic defender, was arrested while defending an abortion clinic in Boston against an attack by Operation Rescue (OR). She was arrested for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon—her "foot."

Half-a-million people read about Mary's story in a column in the Boston Globe. After a three-month legal defense campaign, Mary A. was found "Not Guilty" at a judge's trial on April 17, 1990.

However, the legal expenses incurred by Mary A. to defend herself against these frame-up charges has led to an on-going campaign to raise money to defray these costs.

On the morning she was arrested, Mary A., like many other pro-choice activists led women's access to the clinics. She is a member of Boston NOW's pro-choice phone alert system.

The following interview with Mary makes it clear that while Operation Rescue (OR) is having financial difficulties, and in some cities is closing its offices, it is still a major threat to women's rights and women's lives.

Socialist Action: What happened at the Gynecare clinic on Jan. 13?

Mary A.: I was standing in front of the clinic entrance. We had all linked arms to keep Operation Rescue away. My husband was on one side of me; on the other was another clinic defense woman.

This one cop kept walking back and forth, kind of surveying the line, and a woman from Operation Rescue was running up and down the line, too. She was looking at the pro-choice people and talking to the cop.

Meanwhile Stephen Darling [of OR] was crawling around the ground, trying to get through people's legs—first one woman's, then my husband's, and then mine. We were all jammed in together real tight-and he just kept coming at me.

I put my foot on his shoulder; otherwise I would have fallen down. Within seconds, the police came up from behind me-from the barricades. The officers grabbed me within seconds of Stephen Darling's attacking me.

S.A.: How many times have you been called out to hits at the clinics?

Mary A.: Four or five times.

S.A.: How was this hit different?

Mary A.: It was very different—it was much more physical. People were tangled up pushing and shoving, and the police kept moving the barricades, which were right up against us. The cops would pull them away all of a sudden and then throw them back into our backs. The police were grabbing people or pulling them away from the line.

S.A.: What happened after the police grabbed you?

Mary A.: They asked Stephen Darling if he was all right. He said, "It didn't even hurt." They put me in the wagon and took me to the station. I was very frightened. I was crying. I had never been arrested before.

I kept apologizing to the officer who was booking me. He said, "If you had stayed home today and made breakfast for your husband this would not have happened to you." I told him my husband was with me at the rally. They took my piciure. My husband and brother-in-law bailed me out. I was then Cynthia Burke/Socialist Action able to leave the station.

S.A.: What happened after your arrest?

Mary A.: I was referred to two lawyers by Boston NOW. One was a pro-bono lawyer. He was not available for my arraignment. He, too, was arrested at a different clinic that morning.

The other lawyer [Wimberley Burton, former treasurer of state NOW] also referred to me by NOW said she would take the case at a reduced fee. She was available to be with me. She also made me feel that I would be fairly and strongly defended.

S.A.: What happened arraignment?

Mary A.: Judge Bakas dismissed the case without prejudice.

S.A.: A week later the charges were reinstated. Who reinstated them? Why? And isn't this unusual?

Mary A.: A week later, I received a letter from the District Attorney's office to the effect that the charges were reinstated. I wasn't sure what was going on. How could that SOCIALIST . happen? But when a case is dismissed without prejudice there is always a chance that the DA's office will push for their day in court. My lawyer told me that it is almost unheard of—the only case like it she was aware of was a case of the rape of a child.

[This is the same District Attorney's office that was responsible for the stop-andsearch racist harassment in Boston in the aftermath of the Stuart murder. See February 1990 Socialist Action.] S.A.: On April 17 you went to court. What happened?

Mary A.: Neither the officer who arrested me, the so-called victim (Stephen Darling), nor his witness could pick me out of the crowded court room. Again Judge Bakas wanted to dismiss the case right there. But the prosecuting attorney and the DA's office insisted there be a trial.

So there was a judge's trial. Several people testified on my behalf. Our case was solid. Of course, I have to pay for my defense. Operation Rescue gets their legal counsel free of charge, compliments of the city of Boston.

S.A.: If you were found not guilty in April, why was the Ad Hoc Mary Defense Fund established?

Mary A.: A group of NOW members and other clinic defenders felt that I should not be solely responsible for the legal expenses of my trial. At this point in time, NOW has dropped the ball in my defense.

The fund was established to let people know what happened to me and what it will cost us all if we are not able to defend a person who is victimized by Operation Rescue while defending the clinics.

[Some of the money for Mary A.'s legal defense has been raised, but much more is needed. A benefit will be held on Sunday, June 24, at the Middle East Restaurant, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Donations to the defense fund can be made to: Ad Hoc Mary A. Defense Fund, MIT Branch, P.O. Box 222, Cambridge, MA 02139.—A.G. & S.F.] ICTION JUNE 1990 5

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ATU Local 1205 Vice President Mike Holden displays blood-splattered picket sign of Roy was bludgeoned with a club by a scab driver while on picket duty the day before the May AMALGA UNSH 1205:

ON STRIKE GREYHQUND LIES INC. AGAINST FOR INS/T URION Nutter, Local 1205 president, who 17 rally.

By CAROLE SELIGMAN The struggle to uphold women's right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion received a setback last month.

AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland sent a letter to state and local labor council bodies ordering them not to "endorse or oppose any abortion-related legislation or engage in any activities to support or oppose such legislation" pending a decision on the abortion issue by the Executive Council expected some time later this year.

This statement comes at a time of increasing action on the abortion issue by unions and union members who have been joining in the pro-choice demonstrations in record numbers.

Thousands of unionists participated in the two giant national pro-choice mobilizations in 1989 and a growing number of unions are adopting resolutions in support of women's reproductive rights, including abortion as a vital issue for working women and their families.

The National Organization for Women and the Coalition of Labor Union Women [CLUW] are engaged in a lobbying effort to bring the pressure of the pro-choice majority of union members to bear in the effort to bring the AFL-CIO on board the pro-choice movement.

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LABOR PRACTICES Dave Walsh/Socialist Action DETON PARM

Union tops hedge on women's choice