THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701180647
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: 136 lines
Two bomb blasts an hour apart rocked a building containing an abortion clinic Thursday, injuring six people who had rushed to the scene of the first explosion, including federal agents, rescue workers and a TV cameraman.
``The second explosion is clearly designed to maim and hurt those who were coming to assist,'' Mayor Bill Campbell said. ``So we're dealing with a warped mind here.''
The explosions left the Atlanta Northside Family Planning Services clinic in ruins and blew out windows across the street. Police immediately tightened security at all other clinics in the city.
President Clinton condemned the explosions as ``a vile and malevolent act.''
``Make no mistake: Anyone who brings violence against a woman trying to exercise her constitutional rights is committing an act of terror,'' he said.
Opponents of abortion also condemned the attack. The National Right to Life Committee called on its supporters to use ``peaceful, legal means to bring an end to abortion. . . . No sane pro-life person could be involved in such an act; violence only hurts the cause of the unborn child.''
The first bomb went off at 9:30 a.m. near the clinic on the ground floor of a three-story office building that also houses lawyers, dentists and other professionals. The second bomb went off near a trash bin in the parking lot.
A crowd of investigators, police, journalists and bystanders who had gathered outside after the first explosion heard a loud boom and felt the concussion. They could see a bright flash and debris flying in the air.
``It was scary as hell,'' said clinic counselor Geralyn Thompson, who arrived just after the first blast. ``I probably will never work at an abortion clinic again in Atlanta.''
All of the injuries appeared to be minor. An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent was seen bleeding from the head and hands as he was carried to an ambulance. The other injured included two FBI agents, a firefighter, an ambulance worker and a television cameraman.
In Washington, Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick said there was no immediate claim of responsibility and that investigators were checking with law enforcement agencies to see if any warning was received.
A federal law enforcement official, demanding anonymity, said authorities were still investigating the possibility that the explosions were not aimed at the clinic.
Employees of the Atlanta Northside clinic said it does not see patients every day, and no patients were expected Thursday. The blast apparently took place at the back of the clinic, away from employees.
``I just hit the floor,'' said Latima Blue, a medical assistant. She and the four other clinic employees on duty at the time got out unharmed.
The attacks came five days before the 24th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Patrick said the government has for several years sent alerts to state and local law enforcement agencies around the anniversary to watch for violence. But it was not immediately known if this year's alert had gone out yet.
Anti-abortion advocates in Hampton Roads expressed shock and sadness at news of the Atlanta bombings.
``The bombing of an abortion clinic is a shameful and cowardly act,'' said Ralph Reed, executive director of the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, in a statement. ``The Christian Coalition condemns this reprehensible act of violence in the strongest possible terms and hopes that the person or persons responsible will be brought to swift and harsh justice.''
Although the pro-life movement does condemn such violence, said Kit Verhofstadt, secretary of the local chapter of the Richmond-based Virginia Society for Human Life, there is only so much it can do to prevent it.
She compared the pro-life movement to the generally peaceful civil rights movement and the violence some smaller groups brought into it.
``We abhor such violence,'' she said.
Suzette Caton, Director of Community Education at Hillcrest Clinic in Norfolk, expected that the Atlanta bombings would have little impact on the local clinic.
``I can tell you from experience that when we've had blockades and invasions and the different terrorism we've experienced, it hasn't, to our knowledge, impacted a woman's decision if she wants to terminate a pregnancy or not,'' she said. ``I don't think in that respect it's a deterrent.''
Sometimes, she said, acts such as a bombing can lead to improved legal protection or community support, since the attacks can trigger community fears about violence.
But she acknowledged that various acts of violence around the country over the years have made the clinic take steps to ensure the safety of staff and patients. ``We've had to update and refine our own security measures here.''
Atlanta's mayor dispatched extra police officers to all abortion clinics in the city as a precaution Thursday. A nearby clinic was briefly evacuated after the second blast, but all said they would remain open.
U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander said investigators were combing the area to make sure there wasn't a third bomb. Alexander said that authorities would compare the case to the Olympic bombing last summer but that there was no reason yet to believe the cases are linked.
``We are not ruling out domestic terrorism unrelated to clinic violence,'' Alexander said.
The last abortion clinic violence in Atlanta came in 1984, when the same clinic, then located a few miles away, was firebombed. The clinic is now under different ownership.
Ironically, the Feminist Majority, National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood were holding a news conference in Washington to report a slight decline in violence against abortion providers when they received word of the bombings.
The proportion of clinics experiencing severe violence has declined from more than 50 percent in 1995 to 29.5 percent last year, according to the survey of 312 clinics in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Abortion-rights advocates attributed the decline to passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law, which makes it a federal crime to physically block access to clinics, damage their property or interfere with or intimidate their staff or patients.
MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press, The
Washington Post and staff writers Debra Gordon and Marie Joyce. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People take cover Thursday after a second blast rocked an Atlanta
abortion clinic. Six people were hurt by the second bomb, including
federal agents and rescue workers.
CLINIC LAW
In 1994, a federal law was enacted called the Freedom of Access
to Clinic Entrances Act, prompted by violence at abortion clinics
around the country. The law made it a federal crime to physically
block access to clinics, damage their property or injure, interfere
with or intimidate their staff or patients. By September 1996, data
showed that violent protests had decreased sharply. Fewer than 400
incidents of violence were reported in the first nine months of
1996, down from 1,815 in 1995, 1,987 in 1994 and 3,429 in 1993.
HAVE INFORMATION?
Federal authorities are asking that anyone with information on the
bombing contact them at this toll-free number:
(888) ATF-BOMB.
AP Map
KEYWORDS: ABORTION CLINIC BOMBING