Abortion Backers, Foes Mark Date of Key Court Ruling

Abortion rights supporters stood watch at clinics across the nation Saturday, lighting candles and forming human chains to protest increasing violence, while opponents organized parades and rallies to be highlighted by President Reagan’s speech to a March for Life in the nation’s capital Tuesday.

The round-the-clock vigils, sponsored by the National Organization for Women, were going on at 25 family planning centers and abortion clinics in 18 states to counter protests on the 12th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade.

Several hundred anti-abortion demonstrators held rallies and marches in the Los Angeles area Saturday, while pro-choice volunteers held a vigil at a women’s health clinic in Hollywood to guard against potential violence after federal officials warned that such facilities might be the target of attacks.

Church Groups Picket Church groups from Downey to Culver City picketed outside the Family Planning Assn. Medical Group in Downey with signs saying “Abortion--the American Holocaust” and “Adoption Not Abortion.” Nearly 500 protesters, many with small children, listened as church leaders of various denominations condemned abortion clinics as “murder mills” and then led a march to the nearby City Hall. They carried a cross, a white baby casket and a petition calling for the closure of the clinic.

At Plaza Park in downtown Los Angeles, approximately 300 sign-carrying demonstrators gathered for a pro-life rally led by Susan Carpenter McMillan, president of the state chapter of Feminists for Life. The group cheered loudly at her remarks and those of guest speakers, including state Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Cypress), who condemned recent incidents of violence aimed at abortion clinics and warned the crowd the abortion issue could only be solved by “peaceful, legal means.”

Forty to 50 people participated Friday in the first night of a vigil at the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Hollywood, which provides birth control, pre-natal care and counseling in addition to abortion services, spokeswoman Joyce Johnson said.

The vigil will continue through Jan. 23, a period when federal authorities have warned of possible violence against such facilities. Clinic operations will not be interrupted by the vigil.

“A lot of those people are misinformed,” Johnson said of the pro-life rallies. “They think it’s taking a life but it’s not--it’s not even completely formed. We know what’s going on and we’re confident we’ll see this through.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced the arrest of three men Saturday in connection with the bombings of seven abortion clinics and family planning offices in Virginia, Maryland and Washington in recent months.

24 Attacks in Year

Officials said Thomas Eugene Spinks, 37, of Bowie, Md., Kenneth William Shields, 34, of Laurel, Md., and Michael Bray, 32, also of Bowie, each were charged with conspiracy to violate the federal explosive and firearms laws and with making and using explosives.

The bureau has coordinated the investigations of abortion-clinic attacks, which have numbered at least 24 since last January.

The three also were charged with the November, 1984, bombing of the American Civil Liberties Union headquarters in Washington.

Throughout the nation, demonstrations on both sides of the abortion issue were scheduled just hours apart in some cities, and police and clinics were on the alert for potential clashes. In Birmingham, Ala., for example, a three-mile march and rally by anti-abortion activists was to be followed three hours later by a pro-choice rally.

In Philadelphia, more than 250 supporters and opponents lined up outside the Planned Parenthood clinic and shouted slogans at each other from opposite sides of the street.

“Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate,” chanted Planned Parenthood and NOW members as they marched behind police barricades.

“Pro-choice is pro-death,” rejoined abortion opponents from a coalition of groups, who outnumbered the supporters by 2 to 1.

Reagan has proclaimed today Sanctity of Human Life Day, and hundreds of churches nationwide planned to mark it with sermons, vigils and special observances. Protests also were planned in scores of cities nationwide.

‘Frightening Escalation’

Floodlights and about 70 homemade candles illuminated the Women’s Health Organization in Fargo, N.D., Friday night as pro-choice activists began a 60-hour vigil, playing board games and watching movies to pass the time. About 15 participants came to the clinic Saturday despite a biting wind.

“We’ve seen a frightening escalation of violent activities against abortion facilities in the past year by individuals who call themselves pro-life,” said Lynn Wilson, president of Citizens for a Real Choice in Fargo. “And it’s not terrorism against buildings; it’s terrorism against women.”

Reagan has agreed to address Tuesday’s March for Life via loudspeaker from the White House, said organizer Nellie Gray. Tens of thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators are expected to attend.