Doctors Urge End of Abortion Foes’ Violence

Four doctors who perform abortions talked Monday of life under virtual siege and pleaded with the federal government to step in and help shield them and their clinics from anti-abortion violence.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t believe as a physician I should have to wear a bulletproof vest. I’m a gynecologist in Phoenix, Ariz. I’m not a U.S. Ranger in Mogadishu,” Dr. Brian Finkel told a Washington news conference.

The doctors urged Congress to quickly enact legislation providing federal protection for abortion clinics. Short of that, they said the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI should probe the violence nationwide and act to stamp it out.

The National Coalition of Abortion Providers, the Washington-based group that organized the news conference, said 10 doctors had originally agreed to appear but that six had bowed out for fear of retaliation.

In a series of dramatic statements, the four who did attend told reporters their daily lives were punctuated by violence that required them to hire bodyguards, carry guns and wear bulletproof vests to carry out their work.

Others said they fear they will become victims like Dr. David Gunn, slain in March outside his abortion clinic in Pensacola, Fla.

Dr. Frank Snydle, a Florida physician who performs abortions in Orlando, said abortion foes regularly put nails under his auto tires and had smashed his car windows and poured barbecue sauce over his car.

He said he was mailed photos of his parents taken in public places--an act he interpreted as a threat against their safety--and was pictured on a “wanted poster” accusing him of “murdering children” and offering a $1,000 reward.

Snydle temporarily stopped doing abortions in Melbourne, Fla., but said he is preparing to resume work after obtaining a gun permit and a bulletproof vest.

“I’m sick and tired of being terrorized every day of my life,” Snydle said. “These are malevolent thugs that work under the name of Jesus.”

Dr. Tom Tucker, who performs abortions in Alabama and Mississippi, said he travels in the company of two bodyguards, and all three wear bulletproof vests.

Dr. George Miks of Minnesota said abortion opponents held his wife a virtual hostage in their home for a week, surrounding the house, photographing and following her when she tried to leave.

If the clinic professionals “did not go to work under these horrid conditions, women would not have the right to choose,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Fund for the Feminist Majority.

Smeal and the doctors also urged Congress to pass the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act establishing federal jurisdiction. The act is awaiting action by both the House and Senate.

Anti-abortion groups say they condemn violence but generally oppose giving federal law enforcement officials and federal courts power to step in.

Myrna Gutierrez, spokeswoman for Chicago-based Americans United for Life, said: “We believe there are already laws in effect at the state level to deal with crimes like that.”