8 The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana May 13, 1988
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'Operation Rescue' disrupts abortion clinics00
By CINDY WOODEN
NC News Service
WASHINGTON {NC} --
Organizers of a weeklong
"Operation Rescue" abortion
protest were proclaiming vic-
tory May 6 after netting almost
1,650 arrests for disrupting
business at three New York
abortion clinics.
"Three out of the four days
we kept the clinics closed,"
said Juli Loesch, Operation
Rescue media coordinator.
The peaceful conduct of
those arrested during four
separate protests "set a stan-
dard for the way non-violent
direct action should be carried
out," Ms. Loesch said in a
telephone interview with Na-
tional Catholic News Service.
New York police made the ar-
rests May 2-6 as Operation
Rescue participants sat and
kneeled on sidewalks and
streets outside the clinics. Peo-
ple arrested May 2, May 3 and
May 5 were charged with
disorderly conduct and releas-
ed. Some of the protesters ar-
rested May 6 also were charged
with resisting arrest.
Among those arrested were
New York Auxiliary Bishop
Austin B. Vaughan, at least a
dozen priests, four women
Religious, more than 20 Protes-
tant ministers and two Or-
thodox rabbis. Many par-
ticipants, including five priests
and the Religious, were ar-
rested two, three or four times
during the protest.
Bishop Vaughan was one of
503 protesters arrested May 2 at
the Manhattan offices of Dr.
Herbert Schwarz, a
gynecologist who performs
abortions. The bishop told
Catholic New York, the arch-
diocesan newspaper, that the
acceptance of abort!pn on de-
mand poses a "serious
danger."
Bishop Vaughan said if just
talking about abortion would
bring results, that's what he
would do. "But the politicians
as a group are ignoring the
issue and there is not much be-
ing done in the way of changing
the laws and stopping the
tremendous numbers of abor-
tions," the bishop said.
THE NEXT DAY police ar-
rested 423 people, including
Adele Nathanson, wife of pro-
life advocate Dr. Bernard
Nathanson, a former abortion
practioner. The protesters that
day blocked the entrance to the
Queens Women's Medical Of-
fice in Elmhurst, N.Y..
The participants used the
following day, May 4, as a day
of prayer and planning before
staging their May 5 sit-in at the
Women's Choice Gyn Services
office on Long Island. Police
made 401 arrests there.
Protesters returned May 6 to
Dr. Schwarz's office, where
police made 320 arrests and
threatened to charge the
demonstrators with resisting ar-
rest, a misdemeanor, if they
went limp and forced police to
carry them as they had done
earlier in the week.
Ms. Loesch said 186 people
were arrested under both the
disorderly conduct and the
resisting arrest charges. The re-
maining 134 protesters walked
to police buses when asked to
do so.
A spokeswoman for the
Manhattan South police
precinct said that if found guil-
ty, those charged with the
disorderly conduct violation
face a maximum sentence of 15
days in jail. Resisting arrest is a
misdemeanor carrying a poten-
tial penalty of up to one year in
jail, she said.
The National Organization
for Women and Planned Parent-
hood tried to get a court injunc-
tion stopping Operation Rescue
the week before it began, but
the Supreme Court in Manhat-
tan, the state's lowest court,
refused.
Abortion rights groups and
the City of New York made
another request May 4 with the
U.S. District Court, and a
restraining order was issued.
The city claimed the protest
had cost more than $250,000 in
police overtime.
U.S. District Judge Robert.J.
Ward said the protesters could
be assessed $25,000 fines for
each day they violated the order
with the funds being turned
over to the National Organiza-
tion for Women. But Michael
Tierney, an attorney for Opera-
tion Rescue, said that as of May
9 no fines had been assessed.
William A. Marra, a professor
of philosophy at Fordham
University in New York and a
pro-life candidate for the
Democratic presidential
nomination, was among those
arrested during Operation
Rescue.
GOlden jubilarians
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Schipp will celebrate their 50th wedding
anniversary with a Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 15,
10:30 a.m. at St. Ferdinand Church, Ferdinand. Following the
Mass, a dinner hosted by their children for invited guests will be
held at the C. K. of A. Hall in St. Henry, Ind. Friends and
relatives are invited to an open house from 2-4 p.m. in the C. K. of
A. Hall. The couple requests no gifts. Mr. Schipp and the former
Rose Tretter were married May 10, 1938 in St. Ferdinand
Church. They have six children: Francis and Louis of Ferdinand,
Harold of Greenfield, Alma Kreilein of Jasper, Norma Jerger of
Washington and Vernita Williams of Loogootee. The couple also
has 16 grandchildren. Mr. Schipp is a retired dairy farmer.
He told NC News he risked
• arrest because "I want the two
major candidates to say
something about pro-life and
pro-family issues." Abortion,
he said, is a "moral wound" on
the nation, but is being ignored
by Vice President George H.
Bush, Massachusetts Gov.
Michael S. Dukakis and the
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.
Marra got 150 votes in the
Feb. 16 New Hampshire
primary, is on the New Jersey
primary ballot and expects to be
listed as a third-party candidate
on the Connecticut general
election ballot.
The Union of Orthodox Rab-
bis of the United States and
Canada said in a statement after
two of its members were ar-
rested that "legalized abortion
on demand has disastrously
undermined America's entire
moral foundation."
The statement, by Rabbi
Hersch Ginsberg, executive
director, said the ' " '
orgamzatmn
"strongly supports and en-
courages all efforts to abolish
legalized indiscriminate abor-
tion, provided those efforts are
peaceful and non-violent."
Warm, safe,
caring, smiling and
Golden jubi!arians
Mr. and Mrs: Raymond. J. Betz ceiebrated their 50th wedding an-
niversary with a Mass of Thanksgiving on April 30 at St. Joseph
Church, Jasper. Mr. Betz and the former Catherine Knies were
married Oct. lg, 1937 in St. Celestine Church, Celestine. They
have five children: Father Kenneth Betz of Ireland; James Betz of
Fort Branch; Mary Ellen Stenflenagel of San Antonio, Texas; Dr.
Charles Betz of Rome, Georgia and Cynthia Pruski of Floresville,
Texas. The couple also has ten grandchildren and two step-
grandchildren.
i i
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