Court Opinion

ID: 9745313
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:48:18.559288+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:58.980797
License: Public Domain

WHITE, P.J., concurs. Appendix See Gratteau & Sarrio, Abortion clinics tighten security. Chance of violence increases as protesters become bolder, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 20, 1985, Chicagoland, at 1; Three charged in bombings at abortion clinics, Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 20, 1985, at 26; Maclean, Bishops hit attacks on abortion clinics, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 17, 1985, sec. 1, at 2 (“Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago, speaking on behalf of the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, Wednesday condemned the recent wave of abortion-clinic bombings and called them ‘dangerous, ill-considered and deplorable.’ ”); Reagan assails abortion-clinic attacks, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 4, 1985, sec. 1, at 3; Blast rips abortion clinic, Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 2, 1985, at 16; News report, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 1, 1985, sec. 1, at 5 (“Federal agents said Monday that a construction worker *** admitted bombing four abortion clinics and hinted that a ‘secret’ organization was committing terrorist acts.”); Three more abortion facilities bombed, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 26, 1984, sec. 1, at 14 (“The Ladies Center was the first hit, and the second explosion caused a fire that gutted the office of [one of the doctors] which had been picketed during the summer by abortion opponents. The final blast hit [another doctor’s] office.”); Goodman, Terrorism is no solution to the abortion issue, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 30, 1984, sec. 5, at 1; Barron, Campaign against abortion adopts more violence, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 9, 1984, Tempo, at 1; Van, Birth clinic violence condemned, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 18, 1984, sec. 1, at 6; Editorial, A dire warning, Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 12, 1985, at 13 (“[T]he outbreak of attacks on abortion clinics is being considered ever more seriously by federal law enforcement agencies, one of which has issued a warning frightening in its implications. *** One could certainly contend that the like-minded objectives of those who are perpetrating the crimes amount to a de facto conspiracy. And certainly what is occurring can be called no less than terrorism. Terrorism does not require a political motivation. There is no discernible difference between the activities of the professional terrorists who serve ideology and the amateur terrorist who defies the law for personal belief. The attacks must be stopped.”); Editorial, Damaging their causes, Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 20, 1984, at 31 (“Of greater seriousness, however, is the dangerous zealotry of individuals in the United States who profess a reverence for life, yet seek to defend that belief with firebombs. As we have noted, it is tragically incongruous for anti-abortionists to threaten the lives of others. *** The Sun-Times condemns abortion, but it must also condemn those who commit criminal and life-threatening acts under the delusion they are promoting the antiabortion cause.”); Editorial, To abortion opponents, Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 19, 1984, at 43 (“The Sun-Times has minced no words on the question of abortion. We abhor the practice, and we condemn the attitude that it is a private matter of ‘personal choice’ only, devoid of any moral or ethical considerations. It is with great regret, therefore, that we must take note of — and strongly condemn — the violent actions of some zealots who are on our side in this great debate. We do not know whether the firebombing of abortion clinics in many parts of the country has resulted from a centrally directed conspiracy; but we do know that the incidents occurred. *** Opposition to abortion seeks to derive its inherent strength from a cherished belief in the sanctity of life. So it is tragically incongruous for some anti-abortionists to threaten somebody’s life, either directly *** or indirectly, as in the case of setting fires to abortion clinics.”); Time, Explosions over Abortion, Jan. 14, 1985, at 16; Newsweek, Special Report, America’s Abortion Dilemma. Twelve years after a landmark court decision, the agonizing moral issue still divides the nation and defies compromise. Now the debate has turned violent, Jan. 14, 1985, at 20; Time, New Heat over An Old Issue, Feb. 14, 1985, at 17; Newsweek, An Abortion Anniversary, Feb. 4, 1985, at 22.