1,000 Take Part in Noisy Abortion Confrontation

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 as part of nationwide demonstrations in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court ruling on abortion.

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 decision Monday saying that states could restrict abortions if they choose.

Buoyed by that ruling, members of Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group, had hoped to block the entrances to the Tustin clinic and close the doors of the one-story facility where abortions are performed.

But when anti-abortion demonstrators arrived early Saturday they were met by pro-choice activists who quickly locked arms and provided a wall of bodies aimed at protecting patients and keeping 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. But unlike previous demonstrations that have 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, both groups declared victory.

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

Councilman Attends

Councilman Earl Prescott, one of two Tustin City Council members who had earlier opposed the clinic, also praised the demonstrators for targeting the clinic. “Thanks for coming to Tustin,” he said. “There was no killing over there today.”

But pro-choice advocates were equally elated during the hours-long standoff.

“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Margie Seigle, executive director of Planned Parenthood in 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 last February when Operation Rescue first appeared in Southern California to carry out part of its nationwide campaign of trying to shut down abortion clinics. And it also was one of the most peaceful on a day when there were scattered demonstrations 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, with most of the arrests involving people who attempted to block entrances to buildings where abortions are performed.

Abortion clinics and police had braced themselves for a new round of demonstrations this weekend after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling 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, it marks 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.