Anti-Abortion Protesters Fail to Shut Down Clinic

In the largest of a score of confrontations throughout the nation, anti-abortionists--including more than 600 deployed from Orange County--failed Saturday to close down an Inglewood family planning clinic as pro-choice activists outfoxed them and kept the doors open for patients.

“This is precisely what we wanted to happen,” said Barbara Martinez, coordinator of the North Orange County National Organization for Women.

There were no arrests in the “National Day of Rescue” demonstration at the Family Planning Associates clinic of Inglewood, despite occasional shoving and shouting matches among the roughly 1,000 men and women from each side who turned out mostly to sing hymns and carry signs, one of which read: “Keep Your Nose Out of My Pantyhose.”

At one point, as the crowd around the front door pushed and shoved, several clinic security guards wedged a small, thin, sobbing woman toward a space by the door. She gasped, wiped away a tear, entered the building and fell into the arms of a clinic worker as the crowd chanted: “Cheers! We’re With You!” Her escort also collapsed weeping to the ground.

“It’s a total victory for us,” said Kathy Spillar, national coordinator for the Feminist Majority, one of several pro-choice groups that guarded the clinic Saturday. “We completely overwhelmed them.”

Operation Rescue leaders estimated that 1,000 protesters left before dawn from St. Norbert Church in Orange, where an estimated 2,000 had rallied the night before.

Among them were fresh recruits, such as Cindy Kirker, a systems analyst from Anaheim who had been persuaded by a co-worker Bill Geary to join the sit-in, as well as some whose commitment had grown after their arrests at previous rescues.

After 4 days in jail after a March rescue in Los Angeles, the Rev. Randy Adler, pastor of Stone Mountain Church in Laguna Hills, said, “Rescue has lost its romance, but it made me strengthen my resolve that America has got to be turned back to God.”

In Orange County, more than 200 abortion rights activists were in place at clinics in Orange, Cypress and Tustin.

Operation Rescue leaders said two small groups were sent Saturday to family planning clinics in Orange and Glendale as “decoys” to occupy clinic defenders and buy time for the Inglewood protesters.

When the group eventually arrived at 7:15 a.m. in Inglewood, they were met by 50 abortion rights activists chanting: “This clinic stays open!” and placards declaring, “A Woman’s Place Is Not on the Kitchen Table” and, “I Think, Therefore I Choose.”

Participants in the assault staged by the aggressive New York-based anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, blamed a “partial failure” on a small Inglewood police contingent that stood by and watched as a dozen no-nonsense security guards hired by the clinic handled the job of controlling the rowdy crowd.

“We can’t successfully do a nonviolent rescue when the police won’t stop abuse at the door,” said Luthor Nelson, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Norwalk.

“They’re goons, professional bouncers,” said another Operation Rescue member.

Beyond that, Operation Rescue members for the first time engaged in battle without their national leadership present. Decisions were made by a group of 15 lay Christian and ecclesiastical leaders, including Father Leo Celano, a Norbertine priest from Orange.

“It’s their first rescue on their own, and considering that, they are doing great,” said Lawrence Schrank, an Operation Rescue organizer from Northern California. “The turnout was huge; conservatively, 1,200 were risking arrest.”

Most rescuers claimed victory in the eyes of God for their effort. “Anytime you come and save one baby, it’s a success,” said Betty Adler of Stone Mountain Church.

Some others, however, all but conceded defeat.

‘We’re Learning’

“The goal was to fully shut down the place,” said a glum-looking Ken Cobb of Chino, who was in charge of an Operation Rescue video unit. “However, we’re learning and we are growing, and we are going to make these people accountable for their actions.”

Saturday’s demonstration was a replay of an Operation Rescue campaign last month in which more than 700 abortion foes were arrested at several Southern California clinics. The increasingly bitter clashes come as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a crucial Missouri case that could reverse or dilute the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortions.

Organizers originally hoped to elude their opponents by keeping the name of their intended target a secret until the last minute. But Spillar said pro-choice supporters with communications equipment had infiltrated Operation Rescue’s two caravans even before they left staging areas in Pasadena and the city of Orange at daybreak.

Spillar said additional anti-Operation Rescue strategies included mass mobilization using a network of cellular phones, a central communications headquarters and weeks of researching potential targets.

They also used what they called the “lasagna strategy.” The techniques involved surrounding anti-abortion demonstrators with layers of pro-choice advocates.

“It demoralizes them and cuts them off from communication,” said Robin Schneider, an executive director of the California Abortion Rights Action League.