Protests Held at 2 Family Planning Clinics

Police were called Thursday morning to two family planning clinics in Ventura where anti-abortion demonstrators were reported to be involved in an assault and a shouting match, authorities said.

Officers responded to incidents in front of Planned Parenthood at 5400 Ralston St. and at Family Planning Associates Medical Group at 1570 E. Thompson Blvd., Police Lt. Carl Handy said.

No arrests were made, police said.

The demonstrators were part of a group of 20 people touring several cities in a van and motor home on behalf of Operation Rescue, a national group of abortion foes.

The demonstrators arrived at Planned Parenthood about 7:30 a.m. and picketed for an hour until four patrol cars arrived after receiving a report of an assault, authorities said.

“An abortion protester was observed hitting an angry citizen with a sign,” Handy said. The victim, who did not contact police, had spit on the protester, Handy said.

Officials at a Christian elementary school on Ralston Street also approached demonstrators and asked them to leave because students could see signs containing pictures of aborted fetuses, witnesses said.

About 10:30 a.m., several officers were called to the Thompson Boulevard site after clinic workers reported a shouting match between protesters and several residents, Handy said.

“The visuals are pretty graphic and some people in the neighborhood took umbrage,” Handy said.

Nineteen-year old Jeremy Geyer, who arrived for his job at a fast-foot restaurant on East Thompson Boulevard, said the verbal melee did not cause much of a stir.

The group involved in Thursday’s incidents is not affiliated with a small group of local residents who regularly picket outside the Thompson Boulevard clinic.

Members of the Ventura group, who were also at the Thompson Boulevard clinic Thursday, said the Operation Rescue crew showed up and took over for about 30 minutes before leaving for Santa Barbara.

“We’re not all clinic burners. We’re just trying to save babies,” said Dawn Scanlon, a volunteer at an Arizona clinic that offers abortion alternatives. Her organization was listed on handouts from protesters.