33 Arrested During Protest at Health Clinic : Abortion: Operation Rescue members jump barricades, leading to what Los Gatos police chief calls ‘a near riot.’ Patients are safely escorted to their appointments during the commotion.

In an escalation of their Bay Area campaign against abortion, 33 Operation Rescue protesters were arrested Wednesday after they jumped barricades and breached police lines outside a Los Gatos health clinic, authorities said.

The action, which surprised police and abortion rights activists defending the clinic, prompted scuffles among demonstrators and drew an angry condemnation of Operation Rescue by Los Gatos Police Chief Larry Todd, who called the scene “a near riot.”

“This kind of behavior is totally inexcusable,” Todd said later Wednesday. “It’s one thing to exercise your free speech rights or try to change a law you disagree with. It’s another thing entirely to break the law in an assault that puts the lives of police officers and innocent people at risk.”

Operation Rescue spokeswoman Sue Finn defended the group’s conduct, calling the early morning action outside the Choice Medical Group offices a “peaceful and non-confrontational rescue.”

“From our point of view there are children who are being killed in that . . . city and (Chief Todd) is not protecting those children,” Finn said. “I’m sorry if he feels we took up his police time, but we feel obligated to keep children from being killed.”

Finn declared Wednesday’s action “a great success,” arguing that the episode had “closed down the clinic for two hours” and created chaotic conditions that “tend to make women change their minds” about obtaining abortions.

But Todd said the clinic remained open, and a spokeswoman for Choice Medical Group said patients were safely escorted inside for their appointments by police and abortion rights activists.

“Absolutely everybody got in,” said Gina Shaw of the National Abortion Federation, of which the Los Gatos clinic is a member. “It was stressful for patients, but everyone was seen as scheduled and the police were very, very effective.”

Wednesday marked the halfway point of Operation Rescue’s 10-day “Cities of Refuge” campaign, which is being waged simultaneously in seven cities. In California the only targeted city is San Jose, but protests have spilled into neighboring communities such as Los Gatos.

So far, Operation Rescue has not met its goal of blockading clinics and turning large numbers of women away from their abortion appointments, police said.

In past years, similar campaigns in cities such as Wichita, Kan., have been marked by mass arrests and disruptive clinic invasions. San Jose police, who trained for three months in anticipation of violent confrontations, have made only 58 arrests since demonstrations began Saturday.

In Los Gatos on Wednesday, tensions flared after about 50 Operation Rescue protesters spilled out of 10 cars and made a mass rush to the front and rear entrances of the Choice Medical Group. Some protesters sat on the driveway to block cars, while others attempted to counsel women arriving for appointments.

In the ensuing melee, one woman’s glasses were broken and shoving matches broke out between rival activists massing on the sidewalks, police said. “There were numerous altercations and it was a dangerous situation,” Todd said.

The 33 people arrested included four juveniles and a Sacramento leader of Operation Rescue, Kenneth Reed. Most were to be released after receiving citations for misdemeanor trespassing, blockading a medical facility and resisting arrest, Todd said. Two abortion rights activists also were arrested.

Wednesday night, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry spoke to about 500 supporters at San Jose Civic Auditorium. He conceded that he was disappointed by the low turnout during the summer campaign but predicted a militant comeback by his group.

Outside the auditorium, about 150 abortion rights demonstrators rallied. Three were arrested, police said.

Meanwhile, a Superior Court judge is expected to rule today on a challenge to a new San Jose law designed to restrict the picketing of physicians’ homes. Filed by two anti-abortion protesters--one of whom was arrested Saturday outside the home of a San Jose gynecologist--the lawsuit claims the ordinance is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights.

“In the U.S., the public sidewalks are highly protected and cherished public forums for the expression of viewpoints,” said Craig Cornell, the attorney arguing the case. “The city can bar people from stationing themselves in front of residences, but they can’t bar people from marching, which is what San Jose has tried to do.”

Elsewhere Wednesday, police in Jackson, Miss., arrested five people after they climbed over a barricade and tried to talk with patients entering a clinic. Operation Rescue is also targeting Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Melbourne, Fla.

Operation Rescue’s national executive director said he will surrender Sunday on a bench warrant in Florida after the conclusion of the group’s Cities of Refuge campaign.