1,000 Take Part in Confrontation at Abortion Clinic

Nearly 1,000 anti-abortion activists and pro-choice advocates taunted one another, set up rival picket lines and formed human blockades around a Tustin medical clinic on Saturday in one of several demonstrations staged nationwide after the Supreme Court handed down a controversial abortion ruling.

The boisterous demonstration outside the Doctors’ Family Planning facility in the Santa Ana-Tustin Medical Pavilion was the first in Southern California since the Supreme Court decided Monday that states can restrict abortions if they choose.

Buoyed by the ruling, members of Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group, had hoped to block the entrances of the facility where abortions are performed.

Opponents Were Waiting

But when anti-abortion demonstrators arrived early Saturday, they were met by pro-choice activists who quickly locked arms and formed a wall of bodies intended to shield patients and keep the facility open.

“There were no arrests made because there were no complaints from the clinic,” said Capt. Steve Foster of the Tustin Police Department. “The clinic remained open, and patients were being seen.”

Operation Rescue officials disputed that contention, and one woman who identified herself as a clinic employee told anti-abortion demonstrators that a number of appointments had been rescheduled Saturday and that no abortions were performed.

But Judi Larson, executive director of the Doctors’ Family Planning Medical Group Inc., insisted that the majority of patients were seen as scheduled. “Several patients chose to terminate their pregnancies this morning, and that was done,” she said.

Overall, the Tustin demonstration was largely nonviolent, although tempers flared and a few people reported minor injuries from shoving matches. Previous demonstrations this year in Southern California resulted in hundreds of arrests. Officers who arrived from several Orange County communities prepared for an unruly crowd spent the day merely watching both sides wage a battle of songs, chants, protest signs and prayers.

Afterward, each group declared it was the victor.

“We feel that we accomplished our goals to rescue babies that were immediately in danger,” said Elaine Bingham, an Operation Rescue spokeswoman.

Councilman Attends

Councilman Earl J. Prescott, one of two Tustin City Council members who had earlier expressed opposition to the clinic, praised the demonstrators for choosing the clinic as a target. “Thanks for coming to Tustin,” he said. “There was no killing over there today.”

Pro-choice advocates were equally elated about the hours-long standoff.

“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Margie Seigle, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties. “I think we have stated that Orange County is pro-choice and we will not tolerate the lawlessness of Operation Rescue.”

And after the demonstrations, Robin Schneider, executive director of the California Abortion Rights Action League South, told cheering supporters: “We confronted them today, and we beat them. And not only did we beat them, we beat them with style.”

Latest Skirmish

The clash between the two groups was the latest in a series of skirmishes that began in February when Operation Rescue first appeared in Southern California to carry out part of its nationwide campaign to shut down abortion clinics. It was also one of the most peaceful for a day that saw demonstrations scattered nationwide from Brookline, Mass., to Denver.

No one was arrested in Brookline, but police reported 61 arrests in Chicago, 58 in Milwaukee, 50 in Denver, 41 in Dallas and 27 in Miami. Most of the arrests involved people who attempted to block entrances to buildings where abortions are performed.

Abortion clinics and police had braced themselves for another round of demonstrations this weekend after the U. S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld a Missouri law that forbids abortions in public hospitals and bans public employees from assisting abortions in any way.

Although the justices did not overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, their ruling marked a departure from the court’s long-established practice of striking down nearly all state restrictions on abortions.

Times staff writer Mary Lou Fulton contributed to this story.