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The Terrorists Who Aren't in the News
Anti-abortion fanatics spread fear by bombings, murders and assaults, but the media take little notice.
By Jennifer L. Pozner, AlterNet.
Posted November 11, 2006.
This piece was originally published by Newsday.

On Sept. 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks that devastated our nation, a man crashed his car into a building in Davenport, Iowa, hoping to blow it up and kill himself in the fire.

No national newspaper, magazine or network newscast reported this attempted suicide bombing, though an AP wire story was available. Cable news (save for MSNBC's Keith Olbermann) was silent about this latest act of terrorism in America.

Had the criminal, David McMenemy, been Arab or Muslim, this would have been headline news for weeks. But since his target was the Edgerton Women's Health Center, rather than, say, a bank or a police station, media have not called this terrorism -- even after three decades of extreme violence by anti-abortion fanatics, mostly fundamentalist Christians who believe they're fighting a holy war.

Since 1977, casualties from this war include seven murders, 17 attempted murders, three kidnappings, 152 assaults, 305 completed or attempted bombings and arsons, 375 invasions, 482 stalking incidents, 380 death threats, 618 bomb threats, 100 acid attacks, and 1,254 acts of vandalism, according to the National Abortion Federation.

Abortion providers and activists received 77 letters threatening anthrax attacks before 9/11, yet the media never considered anthrax threats as terrorism until after 9/11, when such letters were delivered to journalists and members of Congress.

After 9/11, Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups received 554 envelopes containing white powder and messages like: "You have been exposed to anthrax. ... We are going to kill all of you." They were signed by the Army of God, a group that hosts Scripture-filled web pages for "Anti-Abortion Heroes of the Faith," including minister Paul Hill, Michael Griffin and James Kopp, all convicted of murdering abortion providers, and a convicted clinic bomber, the Rev. Michael Bray. Another of their "martyrs," Clayton Waagner, mailed anthrax letters while a fugitive on the FBI's 10 most wanted list for anti-abortion related crimes.

"I am a terrorist," Waagner declared on the Army of God's web site. Boasting that God "freed me to make war on his enemy," he claimed he knew where 42 Planned Parenthood workers lived. "It doesn't matter to me if you're a nurse, receptionist, bookkeeper, or janitor, if you work for the murderous abortionist, I'm going to kill you."
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Second front in abortion war?
by Kevin Leininger
kleininger@news-sentinel.com

The old brick building at 829 Webster St. in downtown Fort Wayne has been ground zero in the local abortion battle since the Women’s Health Organization opened a clinic there nearly 28 years ago.

Now, however, a second front has opened in the city’s abortion war. Perhaps sparked by new state regulations, it’s mostly a guerilla war for now – or, to borrow a phrase from President Bush, perhaps even a pre-emptive war. But the fight could escalate soon, depending on one man’s “choice.”
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Errington blazes paths for women

By Rick Yencer
ryencer@thestarpress.com

MUNCIE -- Through dedication to equal rights and public service, Sue Errington has spent her life trying to help the community.

"It is all about opening doors," said Errington, who got into the women's rights movement more than 30 years ago.
Errington recalls going to hear feminist Betty Friedan talk at Ball State University in 1972 and afterward going to a local National Organization of Women's meeting at BSU professor Alice Bennett's house.
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Errington wins Democratic Senate nomination
The former Delaware County Council member hopes to succeed fellow Democrat Allie Craycraft in the Senate.

By RICK YENCER
ryencer@thestarpress.com
MUNCIE -- Sue Errington celebrated victory Tuesday at Democratic Party headquarters, pointing to a cross section of people who helped her win the Democratic nomination to the Senate District 26 seat.

"In the end, it came down to going door to door and meeting with people on doorsteps," said Errington, who easily defeated Democratic challengers Steve Graves and Lewis Coulter.

Errington, 64, a retired Planned Parenthood executive, will face Republican candidate Andrew Phipps, 63, a retired teacher, in the Nov. 7 general election. Phipps lost to Sen. Allie Craycraft, D-Selma, by 609 votes in the 2002 race.

Phipps, who watched results with fellow Republicans at the downtown Roberts Hotel, said the contest would be more than a debate between pro-life and pro-choice issues.

"It is going to be about jobs, education and reorganization of state government," Phipps said.
Errington, who spent the day in Precinct 22 at Grissom Elementary School, was handing out "Sue for Senate" cards. Supporters of Graves and Coulter handed out candy. That south Muncie precinct is heavily Democratic and gave Craycraft easy victories in recent elections.

"We went to about every town in the district," said Errington, who gave her victory speech at party headquarters about 10 p.m.

Along with having people from all walks of life support her, Errington said credited the victory to a good message of affordable health care, education and bringing good-paying jobs to the community.

In Delaware County, Errington took 4,506 votes, compared to Graves with 3,418 and Coulter with 3,044. Vote totals were not immediately available from Van Buren Township in northeastern Madison County.

Party support for Errington was obvious Tuesday night because she was the only Democratic senate candidate at party headquarters. And Errington also took the largest margin of absentee ballots with 682, compared to Graves with 462 and 312 for Coulter. Absentee ballots are generally collected by party regulars and loyalists.

Craycraft, also Democratic Party vice chairman, said Errington was the first Democratic candidate to enter the race and also gathered precinct committeeman support early before Graves and Coulter entered the race.

"I found out over the years, if you get the precinct committeemen committed early, they will stay with you," said Craycraft, who remained neutral in the primary.

Errington's campaign manager was political veteran Victoria Rose, a former party vice chairman and longtime party worker.

Coulter, a restaurant and bar owner, acknowledged he lost big and attributed party support to Errington's victory.
He and about 50 followers watched election returns at Slater Hawkins, one of Coulter's restaurants, and he made the rounds at over 20 precincts on Tuesday, mainly in south Muncie, Yorktown and other predominately Democratic precincts.

After Tuesday's last place finish, Coulter said he was finished with politics after making earlier unsuccessful runs at mayor and county commissioner.

Graves, executive director of the Indiana Fireworks Association, worked Precinct 13 at Southview Elementary School while his parents and wife worked other predominately Democratic south Muncie precincts.

He did not return telephone calls late Tuesday, although his father, Bobby Graves, said he presumed that Errington won because she was "one woman running against two men."

Steve Graves was critical of Errington and Coulter this week, calling them "ignorant and closed-minded" for criticizing a national group supporting school choice for investing in Graves campaign. Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Mutz is chair of the group.

Craycraft said those remarks certainly did not help Graves's campaign. He expected a good race between Erington and Phipps, as did former State Rep. Bruce Munson, who Errington, a former Delaware County Council member, unsuccessfully challenged for the House District 35 seat in 1996.

HOOSIERS ON ABORTION

When asked if they favor making all abortions illegal in Indiana except to save the life of the mother, a slight majority favors keeping the procedure legal:
51% Oppose overturning abortion law
39% Favor overturning abortion law
10% Not sure

Source: Indianapolis Star poll of 501 Hoosiers; margin of error + or - 4.1 percentage points.

Behind the numbers
• Men and older Hoosiers are more supportive of making most abortions illegal than women and younger Hoosiers.
• Gender: Forty-two percent of men in the latest Star poll favor making all abortions illegal in Indiana except to save the life of the mother, compared with 36 percent of women who support the same thing.
• Age: Forty-five percent of all poll respondents 55 and older favor making most abortions illegal, compared with 35 percent of those younger than 35.

About the poll
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I personally am encouraged that younger people are less likely to want abortions to be illegal. Of course that's countered by my annoyance that so many men (who will never face an unplanned pregnancy) are for it being illegal.

Indiana scores poorly on access to family planning
State ranks 49th in a national study
By Shari Rudavsky - shari.rudavsky@indystar.com

Indiana ranks a dismal 49th among states and the District of Columbia when it comes to efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies, a report last week by the Guttmacher Institute found.

A lack of policies that increase women's access to contraception and a scarcity of clinics for women in need of such services combined to make Indiana rank worse than any state other than North Dakota and Nebraska.
California, which requires all insurers to cover birth control and all schools to teach about contraceptive options, topped the rankings of the report by the institute, a New York-based nonprofit that conducts research on reproductive issues.
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Study: Consent laws fail to affect abortion rates
The New York Times

For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows.
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And yet Indiana still has one of these laws in place. Go figure.

Doctors debate start of life for abortion bill
By Deanna Martin
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS – A Senate committee will likely make significant changes to a bill that would require clinics to inform women seeking abortions that life begins at conception, the panel’s chairwoman said Wednesday.

Sen. Patricia Miller, who heads the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee, said changes will be offered during a committee meeting next week, when she anticipates a vote on two abortion bills.

One bill would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions that a fetus may feel pain. It would also require abortion providers to give women written information that “human life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm.”

Doctors testified both for and against the bill at a committee meeting Wednesday.

Dr. Robert Rogers, a retired Indiana University gynecology professor, said the state should not pass such requirements.

“They impose a barrier between a patient and her physician,” Rogers said.

Other doctors, such as Dr. Mark Gentry of Danville, said life begins at conception.

“This debate divides our medical community as much, if not more, than it divides our society at large,” Gentry said.

Some doctors said that eggs, sperm and fertilized eggs are living cells.

But Rabbi Dennis Sasso said it is difficult to pinpoint the moment when “personhood” begins from a cluster of living cells.

“Science offers no answers,” he said.

Sasso, with Congregation Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis, said Jewish faith believes that full life begins at birth, not conception. He said the bill would inject a religious belief into law.

Miller said one possible amendment to the bill could contain a “conscience clause” so that doctors who do not believe that life begins at conception or those with religious objections would be exempt from the law.

However, Miller said if that amendment was brought up, it could open the door for other amendments that would add a conscience clause for pharmacists who do not want to give out “morning-after” pills.

Doctors also testified Wednesday about research that shows a fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks of gestation.

Some said pain receptors form on parts of a fetus as early as seven weeks, but those receptors are not connected to the brain until at least 20 weeks’ gestation.

Indiana’s bill would tell women at all stages of pregnancy that a fetus may feel pain, although Miller said that part of the bill could be changed.

“I think there’s still a question about when there is pain,” said Miller, an Indianapolis Republican.

Source

House passes 2 abortion-related measures

By Mary Beth Schneider

The Indiana House took aim at abortion tonight, passing one measure requiring women seeking to end a pregnancy to be informed that life begins at conception and another that could shut down abortion clinics in the state.

The House voted 70 to 30 to approve House Bill 1172, which defines life as beginning at conception and also requires women be told that a fetus may feel pain. The bill gives women the choice of having fetal anesthesia given to a fetus at least 20 weeks old. Women would be told pain medication cannot be given to a fetus earlier than that.
Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, argued against the measure, saying: "Have we sunk to a new level of micromanagement?"

And Rep. John Ulmer, R-Goshen, said there is no scientific evidence when life begins, and said it was wrong to put religious beliefs into law.

But the bill’s author, Rep. Tim Harris, R-Marion, described abortion procedures as horrific, and said he’d rather err on providing pain medication.

"I’m concerned for the woman," Harris said. "But I’m also concerned for the unborn child."

The House also voted 60 to 38 to approve House Bill 1080, which would require Indiana’s nine abortion clinics to meet new state requirements, from the size of hallways to where the building entrance is located.

A bill passed last year by the legislature had required the state to regulate abortion clinics, but those rules grandfathered in existing clinics.

Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, made an impassioned plea to her colleagues to defeat the measure, saying it is normal procedure for an existing facility to be grandfathered in under state regulations.

Welch told the House she is "strongly pro-life, anti-abortion, whatever you want to call it."

But, she said, when she worked last year to put clinics under state regulation, she had given her word that the goal was not to close abortion clinics, as much as she would like to, but to ensure the safety of women. If House Bill 1080 became law, she said, it would cause the state’s nine abortion clinics to face closure, likely causing a legal fight that would prevent any regulation of clinics from taking place for years.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, said the intent is not to close clinics but to protect the health of women going to them.

From the Star

(CBS/AP) The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a law that requires women seeking an abortion to get counseling about medical risks and alternatives, and to wait at least 18 hours after the session before going through with the procedure.

The court ruled in a 4-1 vote that opponents of the law could not pursue their lawsuit, which argued that privacy is a core right under the state constitution that extends to women seeking to end their pregnancies.

The court said such a challenge would fail because the law "does not impose a material burden on any right to privacy or abortion that may be provided or protected" under the state constitution.

The court said it was not ruling on whether the state constitution included a right to privacy or abortion.

And CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen said such a state ruling doesn't impede upon the United States Supreme Courts' past rulings on abortion.

"It's a ruling that ought to remind everyone that states, and state courts, have a lot of leeway to enact and rule upon laws that affect abortion rights without touching upon the core of the Roe v. Wade ruling," Cohen said.

The state attorney general's office argued before the court in June that privacy was not a specific right enforceable by Indiana courts and said the General Assembly has broad discretion in passing laws.

Sarah Rittman, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter, said the office would have no comment on the ruling.

"We're disappointed," said Fran Quigley, executive director of Indiana Civil Liberties Union. He said the law poses a financial burden for some women because it forces them to make two trips to a clinic that in many cases is not in their home county.

Quigley said his group would discuss with the abortion providers who filed the lawsuit whether to seek another hearing before the state Supreme Court, which has the final say in the matter because it concerns the state constitution.

Federal courts have upheld the 1995 law, which didn't go into effect until 2003 because of court challenges.

The state lawsuit, filed by abortion providers, was dismissed by a Marion County judge, but the Court of Appeals had ruled that they could continue their challenge.

"We may see an appeal here to the U.S. Supreme Court, or at least an attempt to get the justices to hear the case, but I'm not sure that's going to happen," Cohen said. "The high court doesn't take every abortion rights case it is asked to take and it already has that late-term abortion case on the docket, scheduled for oral argument soon."

Abortion counseling is required in 31 states, and 23 states also require a subsequent waiting period — usually 24 hours, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues. Indiana is one of only six states that requires the counseling sessions to be conducted in person.

Counseling requirements are waived when there is a medical emergency.