Federal ruling clears way for anti-abortion protests

By The Associated Press

07.17.01

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Abortion-rights activist Margo Heits, right, of Seattle, makes her position known to anti-abortion protester as she passes by abortion clinic yesterday in Wichita, Kan.

WICHITA, Kan. — Protesters marched peacefully outside an abortion clinic today, their right to do so cleared by a federal judge after the city denied a parade permit.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Marten ruled yesterday that the city's denial of a parade permit sought by the anti-abortion protesters violated their First Amendment rights. The judge said they could march for an hour in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Prior to the start of the first march tensions had been growing outside the clinic of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few clinics in the nation where late-term abortions are performed.

Countless small confrontations ended peacefully as activists on both sides of the abortion issue jockeyed for choice spots along the street near the clinic or bullied their way through crowded sidewalks. But the initial slow-moving march proceeded without incident.

As the march began, Troy Newman of the Los Angeles-based Operation Rescue West called out, "Wichita walk."

Asked what that meant, he said, "To slowly progress, like the gospel of Christ."

Police erected barricades to keep the marchers on the side of the street farthest from the Tiller clinic, and officers were stationed along the barricades and in front of the clinic itself.

A person at the head of the march carried a banner reading "God loves the unborn," and other marchers had similar anti-abortion signs.

On the sidewalk in front of the clinic, abortion-rights advocates shouted to the protesters, "Shame on you" and "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries."

The protesters made two passes in front of the clinic, then dispersed to prepare for another hour-long march in the afternoon. Newman said there were 560 marchers, and police reported no arrests or incidents.

Before the march began, abortion-rights supporters cheered whenever a van — its tinted windows hiding the faces of the women it carried — made its way into the clinic. Abortion opponents yelled, "Jesus loves you" and "There are options" as they watched behind the fenced sidewalks where police kept demonstrators.

The anti-abortion group Operation Save America, the lead organizer of this week's Summer of Mercy Renewal protests, had sought permission to march twice a day for five days outside the Tiller clinic, and organizers praised Judge Marten's ruling allowing them to do so.

"The church is taking the gospel to the streets," said Newman. "We're not here to get arrested; we're here to stop abortion."

City officials said the group was denied a parade permit for safety reasons.

Tiller's clinic was bombed in 1985 and was the focus of massive protests during the first Summer of Mercy in 1991. Tiller himself was shot and wounded outside the clinic in 1993.

Marten cautioned yesterday that he was taking Operation Save America at its word that the demonstrations would be peaceful.

"Obviously if they are not, I will be seeing you all again," he said.

While ruling for the protesters on the permit issue, Marten refused to strike down a special set of bond rules requiring a minimum $2,000 cash bond for anyone from outside Sedgwick County arrested at the clinic.

Marten said the anti-abortion activists did not have legal standing to challenge the jail bonds because none of them had been arrested. He said the bonds would apply equally to anyone arrested at the clinic and therefore did not violate federal law.

Abortion-rights activists expressed disappointment that the marches were allowed to proceed.

"We feel the main objective is to harass and intimidate women, and we feel this will allow them to carry out that agenda," said Julie Burkhart, co-chairwoman of the Wichita Choice Alliance.

In 1991, the Summer of Mercy — led by firebrand Randall Terry and Operation Rescue — ended with 2,700 people arrested after more than 45 days of protests. The group has since distanced itself from Terry and calls itself Operation Save America.

The weeklong Summer of Mercy Renewal began July 14 with a prayer vigil outside Tiller's clinic.

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