Abortion Foes Hear Mahony, Plan Protest

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, cheered by Catholic Archbishop Roger Mahony’s comparison of them to formerly oppressed Eastern European Christians, announced plans Friday to protest at a Los Angeles women’s clinic today without risking arrest.

Instead of blocking entrances at the Women’s Health Clinic on Spring Street, protesters will stand in prayer at an 8 a.m. vigil, then march to City Hall for a rally, officials of the group said. Organizers said they will object to what they consider unjust jail sentences given hundreds of protesters arrested for attempting to block doors at clinics in Los Angeles and other cities.

This will be the first time the Southern California branch of Operation Rescue has planned a protest without attempting to block entrances, but a national organizer said the action is a tactical maneuver that has been used elsewhere.

Mahony spoke to about 200 Operation Rescue stalwarts at a conference at Catholic-run Loyola Marymount University. He said he had talked early this month to Catholic priests in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria who had been imprisoned for their beliefs before the communist governments collapsed.

“When I heard how they suffered, I couldn’t help but think of the pro-life movement in this country . . . how (people) were ridiculed for their beliefs and attacked,” Mahony said.

The Los Angeles archbishop praised the group’s emphasis on prayer. He also urged patience with what he called the “ignorance” of abortion rights advocates, saying their stance is based “so much on simplistic slogans.”

Mahony had cautiously backed Operation Rescue when it began protests in Southern California before Easter last year. But he denied the use of Catholic churches last August for the movement’s rallies, contending that the church might lose its insurance coverage.