Abortion: ‘Long Line’

Your editorial, in which you were critical of the tactics of the Operation Rescue campaign, is to be applauded. Operation Rescue believers employ methods of intimidation which are illegal and invasive. While few would take issue with the rights of Operation Rescue demonstrators to exercise their constitutional free speech privileges, clearly Operation Rescue demonstrators do not similarly respect the constitutional rights of those against whom they are demonstrating.

The Constitution affords women a constitutional right to choose abortion in certain instances. Certainly, if demonstrators blockaded the entrance of a polling place on election day in an effort to interfere with a citizen’s free exercise of the constitutional right to vote, such demonstrations would simply not be tolerated.

Not only has the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution to include a woman’s right to choose abortion under certain circumstances, but according to two recent polls, one by The Times and one by the Field Institute of San Francisco, the public is supportive of a woman’s right to choice. It is consoling to note that most Americans understand that the physical and mental health of our country mandates that we not return to the days of back-alley abortions.

Not only should Operation Rescue participants be subject to the full force of the criminal law, but they should be required to reimburse Los Angeles for the hundreds of dollars expended as a result of Operation Rescue’s intentional, planned-in-advance, and fully orchestrated weekend crime spree.

JANICE KAMENIR-REZNIK

President

California Women Lawyers

Sacramento