Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 19, 1993 TAG: 9306190168
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Medium
It was eerily quiet as members of the Giles County Right-to-Life chapter and the county Christian Coalition stood across from the plant's main entrance on U.S. 460 from 11 a.m. to noon.
It was an abortion protest nonetheless, the first ever in Giles County, according to the demonstration's organizers.
The group targeted the Celco plant because its parent company, Hoechst AG of Germany, is one of the largest shareholders of Roussel Uclaf, which developed the abortion pill.
John McQuail, human resources superintendent, issued a statement stressing that neither Hoechst Celanese nor its affiliate Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals Inc. was involved in the development of RU-486, and neither company markets the drug.
"We do realize that these people have a right to express their points of view," he said.
Wayne Brackenrich, one of the protest's organizers, said the Giles protest was just one of many held at Celanese plants across the country Friday.
"We feel that Hoechst Celanese can put a stop to this drug by using its influence as a stockholder," he said.
Anti-abortion supporters have sent more than a million postcards opposing RU-486 to Hoechst Celanese's chief executive officer in the past two years.
The protesters, including at least a dozen younger than age 15, tied black balloons that said "Stop the Death Pill" around their wrists and hoisted signs blasting Celanese and the "death drug."
Three-year-old Steven Collins stood beside a sign nearly as tall as he that said "RU-486 Kills, Keep it out of the USA."
"We oppose death at any price," said May Midkiff, the most vocal of the protesters.
Midkiff would occasionally try to start a protest song, but the efforts usually failed because few participated.
Brackenrich, who started the Giles anti-abortion group with his wife, Janice, in October, said Friday's was the group's first protest.
"Giles County has never seen anything like this," said Janice Brackenrich.
Earlier this week Janice Brackenrich called the Giles County Sheriff's Office to warn it about the protest.
"They told me that the county's never had any protests," she said.
Cars whizzing by on the highway honked their horns and yelled out the windows at the protesters.
by CNB