“This
is about women having control over their bodies,” said Sunsara Taylor,
who is from New York and part of the World Can’t Wait: Drive Out the
Bush Regime Now organization. “They [anti-choice protesters] were trying to shut us down and we
were just responding to that.”
[full article below]
Unrest at rallies
Bomb scare doesn’t deter abortion protesters
, The Clarion-Ledger, 7/16/06
(Also published in the Hattiesburg American)
A bomb scare interrupted
an abortion rights rally at Smith Park in Jackson on Saturday, but
leaders on both sides of the abortion debate said demonstrations and
counter-demonstrations planned for this week would not be deterred.
Operation
Save America, formerly known as Operation Rescue, has planned an
eight-day protest focusing on the state’s only abortion clinic – the
Jackson Women’s Health Organization at 2903 North State St.
 Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger Law enforcement officials prepare |
No arrests were made Saturday,
though there were verbal confrontations at a rally sponsored largely by
the National Organization for Women.
“All of the activists cooperated very well today,” police Cmdr. Tyrone Lewis said.
Earlier
in the morning, activists with Operation Save America faced an empty
parking lot because the clinic had already conducted its business for
the day.
The abortion rights rally at Smith
Park drew more than 200 people from across the nation, leading to
confrontations with anti-abortion demonstrators before the bomb scare.
The
park was evacuated after authorities were told a bomb might have been
placed in a trash can. The suspected bomb turned out to be a suitcase
containing several pill bottles, according to a preliminary police
investigation.
About 15 officers already were
on hand initially, but by the end of the day, the bomb squad and
federal agents had been called in.
Individuals who may have placed the suitcase in the bin were being questioned.
“The trash can is safe and intact,” Lewis laughed.
The mood wasn’t as light earlier in the day.
Activists from as far as Boston came to the Jackson park to counter protests planned by Operation Save America.
But
an hour into the afternoon rally, members of Operation Save America and
individual anti-abortion protesters began to filter in, many carried
Bibles and 5-foot-tall signs featuring pictures of fetuses.
Abortion rights demonstrators linked arms to try to keep anti-abortion supporters out and blocked their signs with their bodies.
“We
just came here to see what they had to say – you’re the one making all
the trouble,” said Canton resident E.C. Smith, pointing at Jerry
Bellow, who is part of an abortion rights organization in North
Carolina called Anti-Racist Action.
Smith held a sign reading “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” called himself a “messenger of God” and carried a worn, maroon Bible.
“You don’t get to play with the nice liberals today,” Bellow shouted back at him, an inch from his face.
A
group of abortion rights demonstrators from Boston wore black
handkerchiefs over their faces, showing only their eyes and refused to
give their last names to reporters. They also tried to block
anti-abortion activists from entering the park.
Anyone is allowed to gather in a public park as long as the gathering is peaceable, police Lt. Jesse Robinson said.
A
pregnant Elizabeth Johnston, an Ohio resident, attempted to get through
the crowds several times while carrying one of the signs with a
photograph of a fetus.
Abortion rights
demonstrators were aggressive in their attempts to block her sign and
keep her out of the park. “Are you concerned, sir?” Johnston said to
one of the nearby officers.
Johnston said she
and her husband bring their five children – ranging in age from
1-year-old to 7 – to many similar rallies. “Children see things
clearly,” she said. “When they look at this picture, my children know
this is wrong.”
Abortion rights activists who gathered for the rally said they were merely responding to the anti-abortion crowd.
“This
is about women having control over their bodies,” said Sunsara Taylor,
who is from New York and part of the World Can’t Wait: Drive Out the
Bush Regime Now organization. “They were trying to shut us down and we
were just responding to that.”
While the
verbal confrontations grew louder on the outskirts of the rally, Kim
Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women and keynote
speaker, addressed the bulk of the crowd.
“A
lot of women don’t have options outside of this clinic,” said Gandy,
adding that the organization doesn’t only deal with abortion issues,
but also birth control, adoption and comprehensive sex education.
Near the end of Gandy’s message, officers announced the park needed to be vacated immediately because of the bomb scare.
“Our
rally was done – I was about to make closing statements,” said Michelle
Colon, president of the Jackson area chapter of National Organization
for Women.
Colon said she’s never heard about
a bomb scare at a Mississippi rally, but that they are common at
clinics across the county. “This is nothing compared to what doctors
and patients at these places face every single day,” Colon said.
The shock for the Rev. Flip Benham, leader of Operation Save America, was that officers were interested at all.
“What is going on in Jackson?” he said. “I thought we were in a state of emergency? Don’t they have anything else better to do?”
Benham said at the church he operates out of in North Carolina, bomb-sniffing dogs routinely check the building.
The
crowd at the rally was much larger than the one at the clinic earlier
Saturday. Some 60 people stood behind police barricades set up on the
sidewalk.
To prepare for any public
disturbance, Jackson police sent four officers mounted on horses and
two school buses carrying police in riot gear. The officers stood in
the street as the abortion protesters prayed, read Scripture and
shouted at clinic security staff.
Clinic
operator Susan Hill, president of the National Women’s Health
Organization, asked that abortion rights activists not demonstrate
outside the clinic this week to minimize crowds.
Jackson
police said Saturday’s bomb scare and the verbal altercations at the
rally and clinic will not change the way officers are planning to
handle activities by both groups throughout the week.