And the verdict prompted speculation about a potential backlash of violence, a possibility underscored by ominous-sounding predictions from two of the militant wing's most vocal leaders. You don't even dialogue anymore. You just do your action and go back to yourself, keeping your opinion to yourself and not talking to anybody. That would be evidence right there. Crist was one of the four physician plaintiffs.
Violence follows stricter laws There is precedent for a backlash.
Historically, when the government has put a lid on what it considers threatening speech, whether it be in the civil rights, anti-war, labor or environmental movements, it often results in increased violence, said Portland State University professor Gary Perlstein, a nationally recognized expert on terrorism in the abortion conflict. It could, and I stress could, make some of the people on the edge mad, and it could lead to more violence in the short term. In the long term, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't get anybody to sit down and talk and doesn't do anything to deter these people from doing what they're doing. Vicki Saporta, executive director of the National Abortion Federation in Washington, D.C., which tracks incidents of violence against abortion providers, said anti-abortion activists typically escalate their activities after legal setbacks.