Anti-Abortionists’ Plans Recounted

Three weeks before anti-abortion militants blockaded a women’s clinic, representatives of the group informed the Los Angeles police that they intended to stage the demonstration in violation of a court order and get arrested, a police commander testified Monday.

The group also asked that if its members were arrested that they be released without charges, said John White, operations commander for the LAPD’s West Bureau.

White was the first prosecution witness to testify in the opening day of a trespass and conspiracy trial for five leaders of Operation Rescue. The charges stem from a March 25 sit-in staged by the anti-abortion group at a clinic on Westmoreland Avenue.

White, describing a meeting with three Operation Rescue representatives on March 3, quoted national spokesman Joseph Foreman as saying that the group’s goal was to “save children’s lives” but that it also planned to resist arrest.

Deputy City Atty. Lara Bloomquist said White’s testimony was designed to show the defendants, though not present at the March 3 meeting, conspired to break the law.

In her opening statement, the prosecutor said defendant Randall Terry, 30, founder of Operation Rescue, urged his followers to illegally close the clinic and block women from entering it because “God’s law is more important than man’s law.”

Only one defense attorney made an opening statement. Douglas E. McCann focused on what he described as excessive force used by police.

On trial with Terry before Municipal Judge Richard A. Paez are Jeff White, 31, of Santa Cruz; Andrew Eppink, 41, of Palmdale; Donald Bennette, 36, of Mission Viejo, and Michael McMonagle, 36, of Philadelphia.