January 22, 1997
AS OPPONENTS renew their protests to mark the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, questions of conscience and violence are not far away.
Over the past few days, bombings at women's health clinics in Atlanta and Tulsa underscored the potential for passions on this issue to turn deadly. And last week, U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo of New York acquitted a retired Catholic auxiliary bishop and a Franciscan friar of violating a restraining order against blocking access to a women's health clinic.
The judge made his decision because he believed the two men had acted out of "sincere, genuine, objectively based" religious convictions. He also cited a 1970 Supreme Court decision saying that a man could refuse induction into the armed services because of his "sincere religious beliefs."
This ruling surprised people on both sides of the debate. Even though it applies only to these two men, plenty of other protesters can claim the same defense. What happens then to efforts to keep clinics accessible to women who are seeking abortions or other services from these clinics?
Almost a quarter-century has passed since the Supreme Court's sweeping decision on abortion. Even with a more conservative court, a majority of justices continue to uphold Roe vs. Wade, while public opinion polls consistently show that a majority of the American people want to keep abortion legal, whatever their personal feelings about the issue.
Ironically, the boost that the anti-abortion movement may have gotten from Judge Sprizzo's decision was overshadowed by the violence of the clinic bombings, acts that serve only to alienate people from their cause. The Atlanta bombing included a particularly sinister twist until now found only in terrorist activity overseas -- the planting of a second bomb designed to injure rescue workers responding to the first blast. Fortunately, two cars took the brunt of that blast, and no one was killed.
Americans can recognize and respect a claim of conscience. But when protesters turn violent, or threaten to, their claims of protecting life take on a hollow ring.
Pub Date: 1/22/97
