From: boutell@pecan.cns.udel.edu (Tom Boutell)
Subject: VOICE: ISSUE #1: Abortion (Part 2 of 2)
Followup-To: talk.abortion
Summary: Voice Magazine, 1st Issue: Roe vs. Wade 
Keywords: voice roe part2
Reply-To: boutell@cshl.org
Organization: University of Delaware, Newark
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 16:44:17 GMT

V o i c e  M a g a z i n e :   Volume #1 Issue #1 - PART 2 OF 2

Pro - Life Feminism, by Stephen A. Chaney                          Page 15

(EDITOR'S NOTE: It has been pointed out to me that large parts of this
article are drawn from pamphlets published by the group Feminists
for Life. In my opinion it remains of interest and so I have decided
to print it.)

Premise 1: The reason abortion was previously illegal was because it was
unsafe for the woman undergoing the procedure.

Premise 2: The March for Women's Lives in 1992 was partially dedicated to
suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony.

Conclusion: There was no pro-life feminism and abortion was not illegal to
protect the life of the fetus. In addition, abortion was not illegal until
just over 100 years ago, in America.

Premise 1 and 2 are linked in that both are falsities, but also the
disproval of these premises are chief exhibits to prove the following
logical point:

Susan B. Anthony and her feminist movement categorically opposed abortion
and did not oppose laws banning abortion. Modern feminism of the declared
"mainstream" does not oppose abortion and opposes laws banning abortion.
They are, in fact, logical opposites of the Suffragist feminism that they
(chiefly the NOW, for instance) continually dedicate their feminist causes
to.

Logically, for the NOW to dedicate itself to Susan B. Anthony is much like
David Duke of the KKK dedicating his causes to Abraham Lincoln, a
fellow Republican a century ago.

Proof:

Premise #1 - in the scrutiny of history, it is false, because in 1857, a
committee of doctors was appointed by the American Medical Association
(AMA) to investigate the discovery that human life begins at fertilization.
The 12th Annual meeting AMA, held in Louisville, KY, in 1859, produced a
report which concluded that the reasons for abortion included "a widespread
popular ignorance of the true nature of the crime - a belief even among
mothers themselves that the fetus is not alive till after the period of
quickening... and secondly, from the grave defect of our laws as regards
the independent and actual existence of the child before birth, 
as a living being."

They viewed abortion: as "the wanton and murderous destruction of her child." 

The action they proposed: "And that the Association recommend, by memorial,
to the governors and legislatures of the several states, and to the
President and Congress, a careful examination and revision of the law as it
relates to this crime." (Report on Criminal Abortion, submitted
by the American Medical Association Committee on Criminal Abortion at the
Twelfth Annual Meeting of the AMA, Louisville KY, May 1859.)

On May 3, 1859, the AMA unanimously adopted the resolution prepared by the
Committee which condemned abortion "at every period of gestation, except as
necessary for preserving the life of either mother or child" and encouraged
laws to that effect. In 1866, the Congress of the United States adopted the
Assimilative Crimes Statute (ACS), including strong laws against
abortion.

                                                                   Page 16

Premise #2: Susan B. Anthony was strongly pro-life in everything she said
about the abortion issue.

"I deplore the horrible crime of child murder... we want prevention, not
merely punishment. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to
save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who
commits the deed... but oh! thrice guilty is he who drove her to the
desperation which impelled her to the crime." - source: The Revolution
4(1): p.4, July 8, 1869

Others concurred:

"When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is
something wrong in society -- so when a woman destroys the life of her
unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances,
she has been greatly wronged." - Mattie Brinkerhoff, The Revolution 3(9):
pp. 138-9, September 2, 1869

"Perhaps there will come a time when... an unmarried mother will not be
despised because of her motherhood; when unchastity in men will be placed
on an equality with unchastity in women, and when the right of the unborn
to be born will not be denied or interfered with." - Sarah F. Norton,
Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, November 19, 1870

Susan B. Anthony did not speak of prevention to the exclusion of
protective laws for the unborn; she spoke of prevention in addition to
said laws. "Prevention, not merely punishment" is not equivalent to
"Prevention, not punishment," as many pro-choice individuals tend to argue; it
is "Prevention AND punishment is preferable to punishment without prevention" 
in the strictest (and admittedly stone-cold) logical sense. If Susan B.
Anthony and other pioneering feminists of her era did not consider the
right of the unborn to continue living, and had they opposed abortion laws, you
would have heard as ardent protests against abortion laws then as you
heard about laws denying women the right to vote.

No such protests existed; in fact, their statements, from this mere
skimming of the issue, spoke more of support for right-to-life laws. Their
beef was, chiefly, that more was not being done to prevent the need
for abortion - i.e., prevention.

SOME HARD QUESTIONS:

1) Didn't Susan B. Anthony have different views about sex than we Americans
do now?

Answer: Those who consider their views on sexuality in general as being
relevant to their view on abortion might consider the logical and ethical
standard they set by claiming that one's views on sex determines their
valuation of human life. Indeed, if that were a valid reasoning, a rapist would
be justified in considering a woman a "non-person." Indeed, logically, her
views on sex would be quite irrelevant.

2) Didn't Susan B. Anthony take a different approach to this
issue when she began seeing women who died through illegal abortions?

Answer: Such claims are unsubstantiated and are merely rumors, until
historical facts may be provided to prove it.

                                                                  Page 17

3) Didn't Susan B. Anthony and her feminist movement oppose abortion
because it was dangerous to women procuring abortions?

Answer: That could have been a factor. But as you can read for yourself in
the texts, they stood squarely for the right to life of the unborn child.
Logically, they *DID* oppose abortion because it was unsafe - unsafe for
the human fetus.

4) That was the 19th century. This is an enlightened society, the 20th
century.

Answer: We still stand for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, much of
which has been around since the late 18th century. We still stand for equal
rights for all races and religions and for both genders, even though those 
ideas and their achievements began in the 19th century. The more we have
become enlightened, the more individuals we have recognized and included as
legally recognized members of the human species. That was until 1973, when
we deleted the unborn from that list. Discrimination is discrimination 
whether it is racist, sexist, able-ist, or, in the case of abortion, age-ist.

Conclusion:

The statements attributed above to the feminist movement of the 19th century
with regards to abortion, were made after the ACS law of 1866. If there had
been opposition to it, they would not be in support of the law, but in
opposition to it. There is no historical evidence of this, but rather,
concrete evidence to the contrary: they wanted more to be done
about abortion. They wanted prevention.

You might be able to prove easily that many pro-lifers do not work for
prevention, but no one can logically say that the center of the pro-life
ideology - that abortion fits the description of murder and that a human
fetus deserves the right to live - is in any way contradictory to
mainstream feminism in the 19th century, the feminism that gave us the
right to vote for women and which helped develop child labor laws among
other things, the feminism that modern equal rightists respect as the
foundation for their cause.

Feminists for Life of America can be largely thanked for having brought
these facts to light. FFL's progressive, pro-woman, anti-male-bashing,
logical and non-Religious Right perspective largely is what one might call
less Feminist and more Humanist. And they are the most active pro-life
organization in the area of prevention. To find out more about them, write:

Feminists for Life of America
811 East 47th Street
Kansas City,  MO 64110
(818) 753-2130

(Their literature is printed on 100% recycled paper.)

"Song," by Chris Johnson                                           Page 18

It hasn't seen the world yet
But they make it controversial.
The unborn child is not some lifeless flesh
Just because it's not alone -- after all,
It's a mass of sightless, soundless, mindless meat
And if that's not human, what is?

Clinic Defense Diaries, by Jay T. Stein                            Page 19

Prologue

My name is Jay Stein, and I'm a clinic escort.  I've been active in clinic
defense since 1989, when the volunteer group I work with, the Washington
Area Clinic Defense Task Force, was formed.  Our group works closely
with abortion providers, supplying escorts as needed during clinic
blockades and week-to-week protesting.

I've been to all of Operation Rescue's major D.C. area actions, their
Dobbs Ferry (New York) blockade, and a host of blockades by their
local affiliate, Project Rescue.  What follows are a few of my diaries
from the blockades.  (all names, except those of Operation Rescue
leadership, have been changed.)

D.C. Project II, November, 1990

Friday, November 16, 1990, 3:30 am

My alarm clock goes off only three hours after I finally got to
sleep.  I don't need to be at our mobilization site at Seven
Corners until 5:00, but I need to allow extra time to pick up my
buddy from Vienna.  WACDTF (for Washington Area Clinic Defense
Task Force) had suggested using the buddy system, so Ann and I
had hooked up during the peace keeper training four days earlier.
We wait for instructions from our Command Central about where to go.
The wait tenses as we hear that O.R. is mobilizing at the Ellipse.

6:00 am

Command Central calls to move us to Planned Parenthood's office
at 18th and Q Streets, NW.  Over 200 antis (our "affectionate" term
for O.R. members) are across the street from the clinic when we
get there.  The scene is more encouraging now- our numbers are
more even, and while there are a lot of antis chanting, they are
not actually blocking the building, which is scheduled to open in
about two hours.

6:45 am

A large contingent of antis suddenly moves away and heads down Q
Street toward Dupont Circle.  I take a shortcut and run to
Capitol Women's Center at 22nd and O Streets.  When I get there I
see about 20 of our people already defending the door.  Word
comes that the antis have hit and blockaded the Women's
Surgi-Center at 22nd and L, about five blocks away.  I stay
where I am, though, because there are still a lot of antis
at Planned Parenthood whose plans aren't clear.  I feel a little
isolated from the action, but it's a good idea for most of us to
stay because leaving would guarantee that Capitol Women's will
get hit.

                                                                 Page 20

7:30 am

Arrests have already started at the Surgi-Center.  Capitol
Women's is in no immediate danger so I head up to 22nd and L to
check out the action.  Police lines are up and I can't get very
close, so I wander again, watching for problems and observing the
general mood.  I notice Randall Terry giving an interview so I
move in and listen.  He is saying that he and his movement will
never give up until abortion ("child-killing") is "driven back
to the Hell it came from."

8:30 am

Word percolates through our group that O.R. leadership has been
overheard planning a hit at Capitol Women's.  I, along with at
least 30 others, run back to 22nd and O and reinforce our defense
line.  Five minutes later, two O.R. honchos go by and taunt us:
"Thanks for closing the clinic for us."  We tell them they're
welcome.  Eventually a few more antis approach and attempt to
break through our line, but with no success.  More antis come and
try to fence us in but their number is too small.  We stay in
formation for some time but no further attempt is made to close
the clinic.  By 9:30 am the antis appear to be nearly finished with
the morning blockades - much earlier than we had been expecting.
At 10:00 we leave, and that is the end of day one.

That night at the debriefing we hear a scary story: Last night a
woman had gone to the O.R. rally in Alexandria and was taking
pictures of license plates, presumably to use as evidence in
court if it became necessary.  She was attacked by an anti - beat
in the face with a flashlight and then kicked to the ground.
She's okay now.  Well, so much for non-violence.

Saturday, November 17, 1990, 3:30 am

Once again, the alarm goes off at a time I'm usually going to
bed.  It's not a very inviting morning- it's cold, windy and
raining, and on top of it I feel ill from a bug I caught
yesterday.  That's not going to stop me from being a part of the
day's events, so for the second time I force myself out of bed,
dress, drive to Vienna, pick up Ann and meet the rest of the
crew at Seven Corners.  It being a weekend, our turnout is much
better - as O.R.'s will also be.  We all stay in our cars to avoid
the rain as we wait for instructions.  After about 45 minutes,
Central calls and tells us to divide ourselves among two clinics:
Capitol Women's and Hillcrest.  About 15 go to Hillcrest, which
had been hit last year.  The rest of us go to Capitol Women's.

                                                                 Page 21
6:45 am

Over 200 antis (who had mobilized at Planned Parenthood) start
moving toward Dupont Circle.  Soon it becomes obvious that they
are headed to Capitol Women's and reinforcements are sent.
Before O.R. arrives we have a three-layer line around the clinic,
but there is one weak link- we have left a four-foot fence around
the garden behind us unprotected.  Before long one of them
scurries over the fence and plants herself, so to speak, in the
garden- where she will stay for the next two hours.  Our two
spare lines move back to block further would-be fence climbers.
Although I had been in the back of our group, somehow I suddenly
find myself in the front- practically rubbing noses with the
antis.  The man directly in front of me is over six feet tall and
spends much of his time trying to push me back.  The only way I
can stop him is to push my knuckles in his back, just hard enough
to keep him from leaning on me.  I look around at the signs
carried by the antis, two of which stand out.  The first is a
picture of a supposedly aborted baby.  It doesn't even look like
an abortion- the development is so complete that it looks to have
been killed after birth.  I think of the poster as an emotional
argument that doesn't really amount to much.  The second sign
that stands out is an excerpt from the Declaration of
Independence: "All men are created equal... and are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights... life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness."  The word LIFE and the phrase ALL
MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL are highlighted.  I am struck by the irony
of the word MEN and that in over 200 years no one has thought to
include women explicitly in the Constitution.  I wonder exactly
whose life and liberty the antis are defending.

Several passionate debates go on around me; I try to stay out of
them since everybody's saying the same things they've been saying
over and over, probably for years.  No one's mind is going to be
changed today - one of the only things both sides can agree on.  I
am drawn into one discussion as the man on my right argues with
the woman anti in front of me.  She asks him what would happen to
him if he were to die today, and he replies, "Going to hell,
probably."  The subtle sarcasm goes straight over her head and
she tries to Save him on the spot.  "Jesus loves you.  I love
you."  At this point I interject and tell her that if she is
really interested in ending abortion then her cause might better
be served by doing something productive.  "Such as?" she asks.
"Like doing your part to end sexual ignorance.  By supporting sex
education.  By supporting easily available contraception.  By
taking care of the already born."  Though she ignores the first
three points, she does say that she works with unwanted and
abandoned children.  I tell her fine - keep doing that, but don't
think that blocking clinics will help.  Her reply is that if even
one baby can be spared then O.R. will continue to have these
blockades.  The possibility of scarring so many other clients in
the process, it seems, either doesn't exist or isn't important.
How nice it must be to have a direct pipeline to The Truth.  The
woman concludes her argument by asking what has become a staple
of the antis: "What if you had been aborted?  Then I couldn't be
having this really nice conversation with you."  Having long ago
given up trying to explain that this question makes no logical
sense, I choose not to respond.

                                                                 Page 22

9:30 am

The arrests start, and the antis are told to sit down
where they are.  They have a sizeable contingent of young
children, most of whom suspiciously wind up in front.  This is
too much for the woman defending our line behind me:

"Oh, really courageous.  Suffer the little children.  Put them on
the front line.  How loving ARE you?!"

A man turns to us and says, "they WANT to be there!"

"You sure do a lot of thinking for other people.  Our children
want to be here!  Our women want to have lots of babies!  You
guys make me sick."


10:00 am

There is a lull in the arrests as the last of the antis from the
left half of the space around the clinic are dragged away.  Many
still remain down the sidewalk where it's hard for me to see
them.  Among them is an anti holding her Bible, standing just
behind the police line.  For about half an hour she stands there
waving her bible, staring straight ahead and not saying anything.

10:45 am

The police start moving everybody away- them AND us.  The crowd
moves slowly and the police are impatient.  The clinic director,
who had been pulling some of our people inside, tries to guide
the last person in our retreating line inside as well.  Exactly
what happens next is a blur, but when I turn around again I see
that two policemen have grabbed her and are arresting her.  She
is young, no older than mid high school age, and has gone into
hysterics.  We had been told of the possibility of arrest during
our briefing the night before but we are still taken by surprise.
Another of our number, a veteran of civil disobedience
demonstrations and of being arrested himself, intervenes and is
arrested along with her.  The two are taken away with the antis,
and we are left to wonder exactly what happened.

11:00 am

On the other side of the police line, things are calming down.
Several of our poeple are sent to a clinic in Southeast to defend
against a possible hit there (a hit that will not materialize);
the rest of us wander and observe.  Aside from the occasional
anti who asks why I haven't been Saved, none of them talks to me.
I amble over to a small group that turns out to be Keith Tucci
talking to, or rather talking AT, some of our escorts.  (Keith
Tucci recently took over leadership of O.R. from Randall Terry.)
He is saying that he gives our leadership credit for developing
some integrity- for "admitting that the fetus is alive but that
it's still okay to kill it."  I wonder silently how much
integrity is involved in being militantly against abortion, birth
control AND sex education.  I decide that discretion is
nonetheless called for, and back away silently.  An anti offers
me a copy of "the Truth of the Gospel."  I ignore him and head
toward a group of my fellow Godless pro-death extremists.

                                                                 Page 23

11:30 am

After a long wait, Command Central announces the end of the
festivities and our debriefing at 12:30 at the Old Post Office
Pavilion.  Many people are leaving, but two groups of antis
remain- about 20 legally picketing outside the clinic, and about
20 more congregating outside a house nearby.  I watch the ones
outside the clinic for awhile, especially that particular breed
of anti known as a "Sidewalk Counselor."  Their job, supposedly,
is to counsel women against having abortions.  A client walks
inside, and the "counselor" shouts at her, "Don't let them kill
your baby!"  My suspicions are confirmed- they don't counsel,
they harrass.  I can't imagine they actually change anyone's
decision. They just make it harder.

I watch the group for a long while before growing tired.  It's
been a long morning, and my body is getting tired because of the
bug I caught yesterday.  Ann and I head for the Post Office
Pavillion, both of us looking forward to the end of the day.

12:15 pm

At the debriefing we are told of some of the day's events.  About
80 antis had hit a clinic near Gallery Place that had not been
scheduled to open.  Apparently frustrated after finally figuring
this out (they had been there well over two hours), they had gone
back to Capitol Women's and had hit that clinic again.  We are
asked to go back as well, mostly to establish a "pro-choice
presence."  Muttering to ourselves that such an early finish had
been too good to be true, we head back.

12:45 pm

Three blocks are already taped off and arrests have already
started as we arrive on the scene.  Tempers are hot this time;
many of the antis seem to have abandoned their policy of not
engaging in debate.  Behind me I hear a woman on our side arguing
with an anti:
"Keep your racist, sexist God off my body!"
"Sexist?"
"Sexist.  What gives you the right to refer to God as 'He?'"  

He responds that God is genderless. She says fine - so why
do you refer to God as He?  The anti's response: 
"I didn't, He did."

I stop listening for fear of getting drawn in myself.  One
of my big complaints about Fundamentalism has just been summed
up: "I didn't.  He did."

I turn my attention to a debate raging in front of me, as one of
ours takes on two women antis - one of them is pregnant, the other I
recognize as the bible - thumper from before.  Both are practically
screaming - screaming that it is not "the woman's body."  I've
heard this argument before, that no one's body is his or her own,
that it is actually on loan, so to speak, from God.  This stand
never particularly impressed me.


                                                                     Page 24

"Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide!"

That pro-choice chant is answered by the two antis:  Whose life?
What decision?  "Forget it," one of them says.  "They've been
brainwashed."  My jaw drops to the ground.  Us?  Brainwashed?
Wouldn't that imply that someone had to brainwash us?  Most
people I know became pro-choice through their own soul - searching.
Operation Rescue, on the other hand, is an organization whose
members aren't even allowed to have identities until their White
male leadership says it's okay.  Tell me who's brainwashed.

1:30 pm

The police brush everyone back as they tape off another block.
"Go ahead, put up all the yellow tape you want," an anti taunts.
"You're going to have to face your Creator one day."  Once again
the party seems to be breaking up, and many people are headed for
their cars or the Metro.  Some still aren't quitting.  A Black
woman wearing a bootlegged Pepsi logo shirt that says JESUS- THE
ONLY CHOICE calls for converts, Southern Revivalist style.  
"Just one convert,"  she pleads.  "I'll give you this shirt right off
my back!"  Fortunately no one takes her up on that offer.  Not
far away, a man is passionately screaming at some of our group.
I mean, SCREAMING - his face is red, and he's drooling.  He's not
really SAYING much, at least nothing we haven't heard over and
over already, but at least he is saying it with more flair.  I give him a
9.6 for style.

2:15 pm

Back once again at the Old Post Office, this time for real, we
meet for our debriefing.  Wem are quite a crew - a couple people
are dozing in their chairs and many more, myself included, are
having difficulty staying awake.  We are given another piece of
information about the hit: a "safe house" had been established
for clients of the clinic, which the antis eventually discovered.
This explained their picketing in front of the house near the
clinic.  One way or another, all the clients had gotten in - with
varying degrees of trickery.  One pair of escorts took off their
Identifying badges and just waltzed their client in right under
the noses of the antis.  About 80 of them had been arrested in
that second hit, along with one more of us.  Everyone who had
been arrested in the first hit had already been released.

3:00 pm

Finally, our meeting is over, and people start leaving.  One
young woman, seemingly overwhelmed by the emotions the day has
generated, bursts into tears on the shoulder of a coordinator.  I
think, "My sentiments exactly,"  as I head out the door.  That
night I will sleep for 14 hours.

Dobbs Ferry, New York, February, 1991

Friday, February 1, 1991, 11:30 pm

                                                                   Page 25

We arrived in Elmsford and went to the Ramada Inn to meet up with the
other pro-choice activists in town.  My first indication that we had
our work cut out for us came very quickly, when I learned that there
would be only about 50 people to protect the clinics.  Although
Operation Rescue had been actively recruiting "rescuers" for two
months and their intentions were known well in advance, no equivalent
effort was made on the clinics' behalf.  Many of our already small
number came from the New York based groups ACT-UP [AIDS Coalition
To Unleash Power] and WHAM [Women's Health Action and Mobilization],
whose members do not necessarily subscribe to the 
principle of non-violence.

A small meeting held in the hotel confirmed my fears that no
planning had been done when no one could come up with an overall plan
for Saturday.  We adjourned for the night, planning to meet at about
4:00 the next morning.  Most of us got less than two hours of sleep.

Saturday, February 2, 1991, 4:10 am

We met again in room 128 and attempted to plan out the day.  Some
initial suggestions, such as slipping papers with incorrect
directions under antis' doors, were rejected because it was now too
late to do them.  We finally decided to split up among two of the
three clinics, one at White Plains and one in Dobbs Ferry.  The
third, Planned Parenthood in Greenburgh, would be left unprotected.

5:45 am

Lisa and I left with two WHAM people for Dobbs Ferry, a
destination that made me particularly nervous because the clinic
director had said explicitly that he did not want us to be there.  He
had a history of changing his mind, which explained why we were going
anyway.  The street signs were hard to read and addresses next to
impossible, but we managed to find the place fairly quickly.  At this
point there were about ten of us there, and police barricades were
already set up along sidewalks on both sides of the street.

6:10 am

Leaving our two passengers at Dobbs Ferry, we headed for the Days Inn
where the antis were staying.  The original idea was to try to slow
down their caravan, but it didn't work out that way.  The first anti
van trying to leave was immediately blocked in the parking lot by a
pro-choice car.  The van driver then leaned on his horn for about 30
seconds, a time that have stretched to minutes in the early morning
darkness.  A second car tried to leave, so we pulled out and blocked
that one in too.  After several minutes, they circled around and left
from another exit.

                                                                 Page 26

6:45 am

A caravan started leaving the hotel and we managed to work our way
into the middle of it.  The caravan snaked its away through the town,
circling an empty parking lot at one point to make a U-turn.
Eventually it came to a stop in a shopping center about a half mile
from Planned Parenthood in Greenburgh.  There seemed to be no
immediate problem, as there were only about 50 antis and a whole lot
of police barricades had already been set up.  We phoned the other
two clinics and explained the situation; after saying there seemed to
be no immediate threat we were sent back to Dobbs Ferry to do more
observing.

7:30 am

The scene at Dobbs Ferry was relatively calm.  About 40 antis were
across the street carrying signs.  It was about this time I found out
that the clinic was not scheduled to open, but since the provider was
known to lie about that in the hopes that all the demonstrators would
leave, we stuck around.  Things didn't change much over the next
hour.  Occasionally a local would drive by, armed with a sign
reading "Goliath Go Home."  Meanwhile, back in Greenburgh, patients
at Planned Parenthood were starting to arrive.

8:30 am

Only a few antis remained at Dobbs Ferry.  Intelligence was that the
action was now at White Plains, and it seemed that this clinic would
in fact not open.  Most of our people had also left, we were in fact
the last two remaining there.  After checking in with the other
clinic, off we went to White Plains.

The route to White Plains goes through Greenburgh, which turned out
to be a good thing.  Driving by, we noticed that the front door at
Planned Parenthood was in control of the antis, whose number had
grown considerably.  About 30 held the front door as more than 100
others picketed nearby.  Four of them held a large sign by the side
of the road.  The sign read, "RESCUE IN PROGRESS."  Others held signs
saying things such as ABORTION IS MURDER, TRUTH PICKETS AGAINST
ABORTION, O GREAT GOD - CLOSE THIS KILLING CENTER, and PLANNED
PARENTHOOD AKA MURDER INCORPORATED.

We immediately stopped as intelligence quickly changed: Planned
Parenthood was the day's main target, and none of the patients were
able to gain entrance.  The police had a small presence, but beyond a
token effort to separate the two sides, they were doing nothing.
Word percolated through our ranks that arrests would not begin for
another two hours, despite the location of the police station --
across the street.

                                                                   Page 27

On the street beside the clinic, the two sides were not separated and
co - existed with varying degrees of tact and tension.  Randall Terry
was on the scene, as were Keith Tucci and Bob Jewett.  I recognized
several faces from DC Project II as well.  Typically, O.R.
leadership interact more peacefully with the "pros" than do the
sheep, and today was no exception.  Walking around with my camera, I
was particularly subject to harassment.  One of the sheep asked me
why I was protecting murderers.  I replied that I wasn't protecting
murderers.  Not feeling in the mood to debate, I ended it there and
continued taking pictures: Randall Terry in front of the building.
[Click!]  Keith Tucci and Bob Jewett. [Click!]  Keith in front of the
building.  [Click!]  Bob in front of the sign showing the address of
the building.  [Click!]

Another man interested in argument stopped me a short time later.  I
asked him why pro-lifers often display an honest hatred for us.  His
reply was that they don't.  When I recounted my experience at the
right-to-life march of January 22nd (in which a pro-choicer's life
was threatened), along with countless times over the months when I
have been yelled at, he dismissed my observations as "a fluke" and
declared my argument invalid.  There are none so blind...

A woman who had been listening in came to me on the verge of tears,
saying she had just been threatened herself.  I felt bad for her, and
could only say that the New York based groups do tend toward
confrontation and harassment as workable tactics.  I also admitted
that these tactics almost always fail.  She seemed to appreciate my
sensitivity and honesty, but didn't seem to understand the similarity
between how she felt and how a lot of clinic patients feel after
dealing with antis.

I asked one man what he thought whenever he saw pictures of women
mutilated by attempting to abort on themselves.  His response was
simple and to the point:  "They shouldn't have done it."

Two more debates quickly followed, both of them lengthy but
satisfactory.  The second represented the most I have ever gotten
through to an anti, a personal victory made better because she was a
very religious person.  She was able to grasp the concept of
differing beliefs, even though in her mind hers are the correct ones.
She was honestly interested in *learning* why I believe as I do, and
educating herself about my values.  She was a refreshing change from
the typical Christian anti, and one I will remember for a long time.

I had been tossing this question around in my mind for a long time,
and today gave me the perfect opportunity to actually ask someone:
"What happens to the soul of an aborted fetus?"  That question led to
one of the most bizarre conversations I have ever had with an anti.

                                                                  Page 28

"What happens to the soul of an aborted fetus?"

"It goes to heaven.  Because it has done nothing wrong."

"[So what's the problem?]"

"There are angels in heaven who are envious of us because they can't
suffer for God."

"Are you telling me you're fighting for the fetus's right to
*suffer*?"

"[Yes.]"

"What's the point of having to suffer?"

"It's character building."

This anti-abortionist actually told me that the fetus has a right
(indeed, an *obligation*) to suffer.  He even gave me the reason,
sounding very much like the parent who tries to comfort a child who's
just been creamed by neighborhood bullies.  Pro-life literature
states that abortion represents the ultimate in suffering.  And
heaven is supposed to be a place where no one wants for anything.

I have a button that says, "TERRY 11:183."  It is a reference to the
passage in Randall Terry's book, ACCESSORY TO MURDER, in which he
refers to us as a movement fueled by hell.  I met Randall at one
point, and he got a big kick out of that button.  Shortly afterward,
an anti asked me what the button meant.  A lot of them did that,
because of the biblical format of the reference.  I told the man
about the fueled - by - hell quote, and his only response was, "How do
you know you're not?"

Randall Terry was making an interesting statement to some of our
folks.  He observed, cleverly I'm sure he thought, that while man -
hating is at the extreme core of the feminist movement, no
counterpart exists in the pro-life movement.  I made a mental note:
"Misogyny is a myth."  Maybe if he were reincarnated as a woman he
might see things differently.  On second thought, he probably
couldn't handle it.

Linda B. (not her real name), whose brother is extremely active in
WACDTF, was among the scarier antis I met.  She had that
night-of-the-living-dead zombie look in her eyes, as a lot of them
do, but her voice also had a zombie - like quality about it.  She
seemed to have a mind not merely brainwashed but actually bleached,
rinsed and spun dry.  In sharp contrast to the woman who wanted to
learn about what it means to be pro-choice, Linda B. seemed unable to
learn much about anything.  At one point I asked her what she thought
of pro-lifers bombing clinics.  Her response was that as long as
the building is empty, it's okay by her.  I resisted the temptation
to ask for her address and whether anybody was home.

                                                                  Page 29

Meanwhile, in the back parking lot, all the day's patients had
arrived and were waiting in their cars for the sheep blocking the
doors to be arrested.  The arrest process was tediously slow and did
not start until about 10:30, leaving plenty of time for O.R.
counselors to attempt to show literature through the car windows.
Pro-choice escorts were doing what they could to hide the patients
from the antis using newspaper and KEEP ABORTION LEGAL signs.

As the wait grew longer, a few patients needed to get out of their
cars to use the rest room.  I was standing out by the street when one
of them got out of her car and several escorts fell into place to
protect her.  The "escort wedge" was immediately surrounded by antis,
trying to give her literature and, in some cases, shouting at her.
I could not imagine being that woman, practically a hostage in a
terrorist attack.  It was a perfect Kodak moment.

[Click!]

In the midst of the turmoil, it finally dawned on us that we had no
streetside presence to match the signs carried by the antis.  Three
of us got some KEEP ABORTION LEGAL signs, along with the large HONK
FOR CHOICE banner we used for DC Project II.  As we were walking back
toward Planned Parenthood, several drivers honked their horns for us,
but the real morale boost came as we crossed a nearby intersection.
There were more than twenty cars stopped there, and as we walked by,
a loud, enthusiastic symphony of horns came from all sides.

1:15 pm

The police gathered all the patients together by the barricade
outside the back door of the clinic.  Now, nearly six hours after
they had arrived, it looked as though they were finally going to get
inside.

1:38 pm

The police barricades were finally moved, and the patients were all
escorted into the clinic.  It had been 6 hours and 8 minutes since
the first patients got to the clinic.  

Suddenly, from behind us, came shouts of "ESCORT!  ESCORT!"  An
anti had rushed our line and was now lying on the ground.
Whether she was feigning injury or not was unclear at the time,
but a legal observer later told me she had told the woman that
filing false claims is a felony and that we had the whole
incident on videotape.  The woman looked disgruntled as she got
up and walked away.

1:43 pm

The frustration felt by all of us for the past several hours was
replaced by satisfaction as cheers and chants abounded: 

THIS CLINIC IS OPEN!  THIS CLINIC IS OPEN!

But it would still be two hours before everyone had left.

                                                                  Page 30

D.C. Capital Project, January, 1992

Wednesday, January 22, 1992

The day started at 5:30am as I arrived at the antis' hotel in
Arlington.  I saw at least five other WACDTF people there, a couple
of them undercover.  Two empty buses were parked near one of the
exits, and both buses were flanked by several police cars.
Apparently they were worried that we might try to block them in with
our cars, as has been done in the past.

I hooked up with another pro-choicer who had also come alone and left
my car in the hotel parking lot.  Half an hour or so went by, and one
of the buses left.  We decided to follow the next bus to leave, and
so we situated ourselves near a convenient exit.  About 15 minutes
later, at 6:15am, two more buses left, and we followed them onto
I-395 - where we promptly lost them in the rush hour traffic.
Thinking that they might be going to the Pentagon City Metro station
(closest station to the hotel and their mobilization point the day
before), we exited I-395.  Only then did we figure out that the buses
had not exited there.  We assumed that there were others following
the buses so we went ahead to Pentagon City and parked.

About 150-200 members of O.R. were standing outside the entrance.  
After
generously waiting a few minutes for me to rush downstairs to buy a
farecard, they entered the station and got on a train.  Some time
when by, the word spread through the group that their destination
was Stadium/Armory, a station that is nowhere near any possible
attack site.  My suspicious mind being what it is, I assumed that
this group was a decoy and got off the Metro at Foggy Bottom, a
station near three clinics within easy walking distance of each
other.  I visited two of the clinics and was greeted by 400 or so
clinic defenders, but no antis.  It didn't look like there was going
to be an attack here.

15 or so minutes later, I learned that a clinic deep in Southeast
D.C. had been attacked by 100-150 people.  I tried to find someone who
would give me a ride there, but to no avail.  Accepting the fact that
I would not see major action, I meandered to another clinic, where I
saw one of our folks in a pick-up truck.  I asked if I could go along
to wherever they were going and was invited to hop in the back.  So
off we went; where to I had no idea, but off we went, while I did my
best to stay warm in the 30mph wind I suddenly found myself in.

At this point I started getting more information about the antis and
was able to get most of it as the story unfolded.  The 150 antis who
had been on the Metro had gotten off at Stadium/Armory, where they
started to get on U-Haul rental vans.  The police would not let them
go anywhere, saying that the vans were not designed to carry
passengers as cargo and that it was unsafe.  So the antis had gotten
on the Metro and were headed back downtown.

A few minutes later we found out that the antis had all obtained bus
transfers.  I wondered where they could possibly be going that they
needed bus transfers.  I also wondered if they knew how long it would
take them to get anywhere that way.  I couldn't help but be amused at
the whole thing.

                                                                  Page 31

About half an hour later, we were told that the antis had arrived at
Foggy Bottom.  We had parked there and were watching for them, but
didn't see any antis emerging from the station.  While we were
waiting, though, several passers-by approached us, thanked us for
what we were doing and asked how they could get involved.  Good thing
we carry our business card with us all the time!

Several more minutes went by, during which we learned that the police
at the Southeast clinic had been unusually speedy in arresting the
antis.  No patients were turned away and access to the building was
never lost.  At this point I was convinced that O.R. was up to
something devious, as there was no way their numbers could be as
limited as it appeared.

About that time, the antis started coming out of the Metro station.
I walked ahead to the nearest of the three clinics and in my best
Paul Revere imitation announced that the sheep were arriving.  I knew
there was not a chance that 150 antis could compete with 200
defenders, but stood ready anyway.

The antis came... and went.  They marched right by the clinic without
saying much, their facial expressions betraying their dismay at the
sight of such a well - guarded clinic, and at the earlier U-Haul
fiasco.  I ran up to their lead Rescuers, and asked them if they had
enjoyed their trip to the Stadium.  Silence was their only response.
At this point I observed that from their original 150 they had
dwindled to about 50.  Where did the other hundred go?  The world may
never know.

I ran ahead to the second clinic and repeated my earlier Paul Revere.
Five minutes later, they had arrived.  Again, there were over
150 defenders to their pitiful 50 Rescuers.  There were enough of
them to form only a one-layer shell in front of the defenders, a
shell that was cracked by the police in short order.  The Rescuers
were so ineffective against our escorts, in fact, that most of them
eventually gave up and became prayer support people outside the
police line.

A patient arrived and was escorted inside the police line.  While
they were waiting to get in, cries of "DON'T LET THEM KILL YOUR
BABY!," "MOMMY, LET ME LIVE," and "MURDERER" could be heard over the
din.  A pro-lifer wearing a bicycle helmet paced the street in front
of me, his face growing more agitated by the minute.  This is the
same person who yesterday had been loud and abrasive and had pushed
several of us around.  Now he was pacing in front of me, growing
angrier and eyeing the escorts.

Suddenly he lunged forward, ran onto the clinic property and jumped
the escorts, tackling one of them.  He was immediately brought down
by the police and cuffed.  Total elapsed time - 15 seconds, though
the patient will probably be haunted by the image of the hatred in
his eyes for many years, if not the rest of her life.  In keeping
with their tradition of maintaining moral high ground, the other
pro-lifers immediately said that the man was actually a pro-choicer.
Exact quote from one: "He's not with us, he's with you."  The man with
the bicycle helmet showed up at a later blockade - this time wearing
a clerical collar.

                                                                   Page 32

Epilogue

After each of these "Rescues," O.R. claimed to have saved from one to six
babies.  They say that no matter what else, saving those babies justified
their actions.

I know a whole lot of patients, passers-by and escorts that would disagree.

                                                                   Page 33

Ban Abortion After Fetushood, by Wes Orr

I believe abortion which kills a fetus is murder and is
morally unacceptable. However, I make a distinction between the life of 
the fetus, the embryo and the blastocyst.  Of the three, the fetus
is the most developed.  The point of fetushood arrives at about eight 
weeks.  At this developmental stage the living, human fetus has a 
heartbeat, brain activity as measured by an EEG, and a human appearance.

My personal opinion is that all abortions are wrong, except to 
save the life of the mother.  However, I believe the mother's 
right to reproductive freedom may supercede the right to live  of her 
unborn offspring, at least, up to a point.  I believe the line between 
the right to choose and the right to life occurs at about eight weeks.  
It is at this point that the fetus' right to life seems blatantly clear.

My belief that all abortions are questionable comes from the biological
fact that at conception a new human life comes into existence.  If we kill
this human life, especially at the point of fetushood or later, then 
we (the patient, her doctor, or society by sanctioning the act of 
legalized abortion) are committing an act of murder.  I do believe, 
however, that if this human life is extinguished prior to the unborn 
attaining sentience (as defined by brain activity) it is an act short of 
murder.

I believe the killing of a sentient human being, without his or her 
prior consent (look to living wills and desired quality of life 
arguments) to be an act of homicide, while I believe killing the 
unborn prior to this stage to be the killing of non-sentient human life.
It is still wrong.  It is still undesirable, from a perspective which
values human life.  It does, however, prevent this human life from 
attaining sentience and living in a home where it is not wanted.

As you can see, the crux of my arguments against abortion lie in the 
fetus' undeniable humanity as defined by 
brain and heart activity and a human appearance, characteristics
not shared by the embryo or blatocyst. I believe the brain activity
discussed above gives the fetus its "personhood" which should prevent
it from being killed.  I recognize above, as all who have an opinion on
this issue should, that even killing an embryo or blastocyst is the 
killing of a human life but at an early developmental stage.  Further,
I recognize that the life of the mother and the life of the developing
human inside her are at odds if the offspring discussed is unwanted.  
Also, I hope to have shown that there is a reasonable, logically 
consistent point, at which the life of the unborn, at fetushood, 
supercedes the right of the mother to kill it.  Additionally, I point out
that a woman's right to reproductive freedom is vitally important yet 
must be limited to the period before the unborn
develops into a fetus.  It is apparent that this argument goes beyond 
that of the restrictions allowed by Roe versus Wade (1972) and is, in my 
opinion, a more defensible position.

I wish all who read this to know that I value all human life and that 
I am grieved when a pregnant woman feels the need to exercise her right 
to reproductive freedom and abort a human life.  I feel that
my views on this issue are morally defensible and may provide a logical
compromise to the radical extremes of both sides of the abortion 
controversy.  Furthermore, I am committed to reducing poverty, 
child abuse and other factors that may unnecessarily predispose a 
woman to choose abortion.  If we all work together on this issue we may 
be able to drastically reduce the need for abortion in the first
place. This could potentially satisfy both sides.

About the Upcoming Issue                                            Page 34
------------------------

The next issue of Voice is expected to deal with the limitations of
free speech and free expression. Can you shout FIRE on a crowded
Internet? Should free speech on bulletin board systems be protected?
Should the operators of computer systems be held responsible for
the statements of users?

Moving into other areas, what constitutes free speech and what
constitutes slander? Are the "hate speech" rules being adopted by
academic institutions protecting minorities or discouraging
free expression? 

The specific question for the upcoming issue is:

"In what ways should free speech and free expression be restricted?"

If this topic interests you, then write for the upcoming issue!

-- 
                                 NERD NATION:
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    Graduating in very very few days. Keeping email address however. Moving
up in world, depending. REPLY ADDRESS BROKEN, use: boutell@isis.cshl.udel.edu
Xref: sparky talk.abortion:35447 alt.abortion.inequity:3582