
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 9, 1995                   TAG: 9501120045
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID NOVA
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

SOCIETY CAN ACT TO STOP CLINIC VIOLENCE

IT ISN'T just doctors anymore. If you work or volunteer at a reproductive health-care clinic, you can be a target for violence. That was the message conveyed when John Salvi opened fire at three clinics in Massachusetts and Virginia, killing two and wounding five employees and volunteers. This was the latest episode in a series of increasingly violent attacks against abortion providers.

While the frequency of attacks has plateaued in the past two years, the magnitude of violence has continued to escalate. It seems that with each new violent attack, the threshold of what is "acceptable" to do in order to "protect the unborn" increases. Already, fringe groups such as Pro-Life Virginia and Citizens for Justice (both based in Virginia) have offered praise for Salvi's actions. And Planned Parenthood clinics around the country have received a number of phone calls threatening to kill more people than John Salvi was able to kill. Abortion providers are under no illusions - they know the violence will continue to escalate.

Just a few years ago, harassment of physicians consisted primarily of late-night phone calls and death threats. That harassment was soon followed by clinic blockades, slashed tires, butyric-acid attacks and fire bombings at reproductive health-care facilities.

Now murder has been added to the menu of "justifiable" actions against abortion providers. First came shootings of individual doctors. Recent incidents point to an expansion of targets that include not only doctors, but clinic workers and volunteers as well. In the 1980s, doctors relied on unlisted phone numbers to protect their privacy. Now clinic workers rely on bulletproof vests and armed guards to protect their lives.

This violence and harassment should not be dismissed as isolated attacks by "a handful of crazies." The National Abortion Federation has documented more than 4,800 illegal acts of violence and harassment against abortion providers during the past two years alone.

The Justice Department, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are now taking much-needed steps to reduce this seemingly endless escalation of violence. Law-enforcement agencies cannot solve this problem alone. The responsibility must be shared by all, but especially elected officials, physicians, the media and those embroiled in the debate:

VIRGINIA LEGISLATORS: The General Assembly should pass Del. Chip Woodrum's Clinic Access Bill requiring minimum mandatory penalties for repeatedly blockading health-care facilities. Virginia judges have been reluctant to mete out sentences to those convicted of blockading clinics to save jail cells for "real criminals." However, by allowing illegal activity to go unpunished, Virginia invites an increase in such activity. All the abortion providers that have faced gunfire witnessed an escalation of illegal activities (including blockades) in recent years.

If the Clinic Access Bill passes, multiple convictions for blockading health facilities would automatically result in a 30-day jail sentence and a $2,000 fine. Though such blockades would remain a misdemeanor offense, it would demonstrate that Virginia will not tolerate illegal activity - especially when there is ample evidence that such activity leads to escalations of violence. As Gov. George Allen has stated, one of the primary ways to deter crime is "by making punishment certain and predictable." The Clinic Access Bill would accomplish this objective.

DOCTORS: Obstetricians and gynecologists should provide abortion services in their offices and hospitals. As long as they rely on women's clinics to provide pregnancy terminations, abortion will continue to be a marginalized health-care service that leaves a relatively small number of providers prone to attacks. Physicians need to remember that before abortion was legalized in 1973, abortion was the No. 1 cause of maternal death in this country. They must consider that one of every five women in America seeks abortion services in her lifetime. Obstetricians and gynecologists need to stand by their patients during crises and not just when pregnancies are wanted.

CONGRESS: Last year, the federal government passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act - the only federal law protecting reproductive health facilities. Even though the new Congress is more hostile to abortion rights - and the new chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees both oppose FACE - members should resist attempts to weaken or repeal the federal law.

THE MEDIA: The media should resume the reporting of clinic bombings and attacks that don't result in murder. Ironically, as the severity and frequency of attacks increases, there is less likelihood that any single incident will be reported. The many incidents of arson, firebombings, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails not resulting in death received little more than local coverage around the nation.

With the exception of the wounding of one doctor with an assault rifle and the firebombing of a Northern Virginia clinic, there has been no coverage by the local media in Roanoke of the epidemic of clinic attacks nationwide. As a result, the general public does not recognize that violence and harassment have become routine occupational hazards at clinics across America.

ABORTION OPPONENTS: Anti-abortion groups need to stop offering inflammatory rhetoric. It is laudable for them to publicly condemn the killings of clinic staff and volunteers. However, by continuing to compare abortion providers to Nazis and abortions to the Holocaust, they are speaking the language of war. And by opposing legislation that protects clinics against violence and harassment, they send conflicting messages to their members and the public. These tactics not only undermine their own moral positions, but also serve to incite dangerous behaviors.

ABORTION PROVIDERS: Clinic staff need to take greater precautions to reduce the potential for violence at their sites. At a Louisiana clinic in October, a patient's husband was charged with attempted murder when he pulled a gun during a fight with anti-abortion demonstrators. One week later, two protesters, a clinic staffer and a security guard all required hospital treatment after a fight broke out at a clinic in Denver. Such confrontations need to be avoided. Along with installing bullet-proof glass, clinic staffs need to initiate measures to lessen hostility between themselves and the protesters.

More attacks will likely occur in the future. However, if doctors, lawmakers, activists on both sides, the media and others do their part, perhaps this new year will see a de-escalation in clinic violence. Only after the violence ends will we be able to work together to reduce both the number of unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions.

David Nova is Public Affairs Director for Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge Inc.

by CNB