Roundup: More Anti-Abortion “Activist” Trials and an Interview With Dr. Hern
Last week may have been a week of elections, but it was also a week of trials for anit-abortion "activists," and even more are coming this week.
Last week, we had an election. But we also had the man who threatened late-term abortion provider Dr. Warren Hern and his family get off with five years probation. And the man who conspired to bomb abortion clinics in North Carolina by providing how to’s on making homemade explosives pled guilty.
Now, the creator of the “Wanted” abortion providers posters is having his day in court, too.
Via NPR:
In North Carolina on Monday, anti-abortion activist Flip Benham, who is charged with stalking and violating a new state law against residential picketing, goes to court.
He and his group, Operation Save America, put up Old West-style “wanted” posters targeting doctors who perform abortions. The group calls it free speech. Abortion rights activists say it’s a threat.
Targeted Picketing
Benham is a longtime anti-abortion activist. The posters he distributed earlier this year included the names, addresses and photos of four Charlotte, N.C., doctors who perform abortions.
Benham and his group took the posters to the doctors’ offices and to their neighborhoods. They placed the posters on cars and tacked them up on doors.
Detective Milton Harris with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department says this violated the state’s new law against targeting an individual at his home.
“By them handing out the flyers with doctors’ photos on it, it was an indication to us that they were actually singling those doctors out within that residential neighborhood to protest,” Harris says.
He also says that this is the first prosecution under the new law.
“The purpose of the law is to protect that person’s identity against basically a lone-wolf assailant coming in there and possibly doing harm to that individual or that family,” Harris says.
As would surprise no one, the anti-abortion supporters are claiming that the media is out to get them, and that the posters are really quite innocent. The conservative group Media Research Center commented on a CBS story about the posters, saying:
Miller then portrayed the pro-life group behind the posters as menacing: “Those responsible for the flyers – Operation Save America – repeatedly protest abortions at women’s health clinics in the Charlotte area, claiming the doctors harm women and kill babies. They list specific addresses and urge people to contact doctors there. One poster even cites a home address.” The unidentified doctor proclaimed: “These wanted posters are a call for my murder.”
Attempting to draw a connection between the flyers and past murders of abortion doctors, Miller pointed out: “In the 1990s, similar flyers were distributed in other cities. Then came the murders. In 1993, Pensacola Dr. David Gunn and Dr. George Patterson in Alabama. Dr. John Britton was gunned down a year later in Florida. All were targets of the wanted poster campaign.” A sound bite followed from Katherine Spillar, executive vice president of the left-wing pro-abortion group Feminist Majority Foundation: “We know what the pattern has been year after year. Wanted poster, murder. Wanted poster, murder. We need tough prosecution before more doctors are murdered.”
Miller did provide some time to Operation Save America founder Flip Benham, but only to level accusations against him: “So do you think these incite violence?”
Near the end of the story, Miller went back to the anonymous doctor, replaying an earlier sound bit of him claiming “The posters are meant to call for my murder.” Miller asserted: “They’re just putting out the bait.” The doctor replied: “They’re putting out the bait, they’re putting out the call, and hoping somebody will respond.” Miller concluded: “Women’s rights groups have called for the Justice Department to investigate the posters, fearing history could repeat itself.”
Do abortion doctors have nothing to fear from these obvious targets on their backs? Time Magazine interviewed Dr. Hern, who was nothing if not blunt about those who terrorize and murder.
Mini Roundup: The Pope went to Spain and all he got was a gay “kiss-in.”
November 8, 2010
- Fargo abortion clinic doctor subject of probe – KCAU
- A (broken) promise to the world’s women – Reuters AlertNet (blog)
- More healthy babies without HIV/AIDS born to HIV mothers – Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
- Knesset committee rejects abortion bill – Ynetnews
- Rwanda: Gov’t Receives US 379 Million Global Fund Aid – AllAfrica.com
- HPV and cervical cancer, more prevalent than you might think – Chicago Flame Online (subscription)
- HIV-positive women in Chile face forced sterilization – GlobalPost
- KENYA: Need to reduce HIV risk among health workers – Plus News
- In pursuit of apology for ‘comfort women’ 300000 signatures sent to Japan – Korea Times
- Mobile phones can save lives of mothers in childbirth, infants and children – Sify
- Blogs Discuss Impact Of Midterm Elections On Reproductive Rights, Other Issues – Medical News Today (press release)
- Scientists investigating link between ‘periods’ and ovarian cancer – International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
- Anti-Abortion Activist On Trial For ‘Wanted’ Posters – NPR
- CDC Study Shows Racial Divide in Teen Pregnancy Rates – Public News Service
- Nurse-midwives provide a different birth experience – News-Leader.com
- Interests grapple over birth control in health care law – Minnesota Public Radio
- Snider: Free birth control a more cost effective option than unplanned pregnancies – News-Leader.com
- Cash to tackle teen pregnancies – BBC News
- Universal access to contraceptives protects women – Daily Aztec
- Sabotage of sex education – Times of Malta
- New WRHR Scholar To Study Contraception Availability For Female Veterans – Medical News Today (press release)
- The church and the RH bill – Manila Standard Today
- World Population Exposed to Infertility – TopNews United Kingdom
- Montana GOP leaders say focus will be on fiscal issues – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
- Do I tell my husband I want an abortion? – Mirror.co.uk
November 7, 2010
- Pardon me while I yawn. – Lew Rockwell
- Now in Power, GOP Vows Cuts in State Budgets – New York Times
- State not protecting the rights of fathers – Nashua Telegraph
- GOP: We Owe It to People to Repeal Health Care – CBS News
- Guest Speaker: Reproductive rights a challenge for RI – Jakarta Post
- Californias next Attorney General still undecided – Examiner.com
- Pope’s Spain visit rocked by gay kiss-in protest – Herald Sun
- President Barack Obama’s Pro-Abortion Record: A Pro-Life Compilation – LifeNews.com
- ‘Why I chose adoption over an abortion’ – Irish Times
- Pope denounces gay marriage and abortion in Spain – Irish Times
- Sex before marriage is a path to misery, teenagers are told – Independent
- EDITORIAL: Wadhams, like Buck, wrong for (and about) Colorado – The Aurora Sentinel
- Secretary Clinton’s Visit to Australia Highlights Collaboration – US Department of State
- Contraception key factor in abortion rate – TVNZ
- Arab Countries Suffer Epidemic of Domestic Violence – The Epoch Times
- Few women taking free cancer tests – The Daily Yomiuri
- Abortion issue made an appearance in hit pieces – OregonLive.com
- The soft war against women – Salon
- Nagging questions – Philippine Star
- ‘Head-on collision’ between govt, Church seen on RH bill – GMANews.TV
- Boys Get Less Sex Education – Huffington Post (blog)
- Pope attacks abortion – Straits Times
- Army’s gender bender – Daily Telegraph
- Your preferred birth control method? – Times of India
- Pope consecrates Sagrada Familia, attacks abortion and gay marriage – Deutsche Welle
- Pope sanctifies Sagrada Familia, rounds on abortion – AFP
- Single-issue voters want to know abortion position – Indianapolis Star
- Mali, partners launch common strategy on maternal health – Afrique en Ligue
- The big lie about abortion and mental health – Washington Post
- Dr. Hugh Mighty: Billions spent have not lowered infant and maternal mortality – Shreveport Times
- Aquino, Bishops to Meet Again on Family Planning – Manila Bulletin
- Oregon Couple Gives Out Condoms on Halloween – Care2.com (blog)
- Tax Incentives for Pregnancy Care Centers – Manila Bulletin
- Inside Medicine: Birth control and sexual activity – Sacramento Bee
November 6, 2010
- Model for success all up to the GOP – Nashua Telegraph
- Cultural Exchange: ‘Sex Talk’ documentary lets Egyptians discuss a taboo topic – Los Angeles Times
- Australia, US announce partnership to address violence against women globally – People’s Daily Online
- GOP Plans to Use Purse Strings to Fight Health Law – New York Times
- Let’s hear it for the girls – Malaysia Star
- Could small differences have given Sestak a win? – Lebanon Daily News
- Election Victories: No Increase in Elected Women – Women’s eNews
- HRC calls for sensitivity when dealing with teen pregnancy – Primedia Broadcasting – Eyewitness News
- Rise in teen pregnancy signals other problems – Rome News Tribune
- Aquino to face lay pax on birth control – Manila Bulletin
- Senate to pass nat’l budget – Manila Bulletin
- Government urged to respond on sex and relationships education – Ekklesia
- An experimental study on cervix cancer with combination of HSV-TK/GCV suicide … – 7thSpace Interactive (press release)
November 5, 2010
- Call to promote cervical screening – Viet Nam News
- UER Health Directorate to intensify health education – GhanaWeb
- International pro-life leaders gather in Ottawa to rally the troops in the … – B.C. Catholic Newspaper
- Family Focus: Gaston County Awarded Millions To Prevent Teen Pregnancy – WSOC Charlotte
- Randall Terry Calls for GOP to Dump John Boehner for Mike Pence – Sunshine State News (blog)
- A Different Kind of Sex Talk With Teens – New York Times (blog)
- UNESCO Report: Sex Guidelines for Kids From Birth – The New American
- Productive debate (II) – Philippine Star
- Birth control as preventive health care? – Charlotte Post
- Pediatric Org Condemns Same-Sex Parents, Counter to Research – LiveScience.com
- Ken Buck's Abortion Stance Cost Him a Senate Seat – U.S. News & World Report (blog)
- Obesity and Risky Sex Linked in Young Mothers – PsychCentral.com
- Handout on Halloween stirs debate about teen sex – Statesman Journal
- Circumcision programme a success – Times LIVE
- Antiabortion-Rights Activists Plead Guilty In NC, Wash., Clinic Plots – Medical News Today (press release)
- Q&A With the Last Remaining Doctor Who Performs Late-Term Abortions – TIME
- Briefing will address plight of youths too old for foster care – Honolulu Star-Advertiser
- Sex Work Flourishes In Post-Earthquake Haiti – Latin America News Dispatch
- Pope heads to a less Catholic Spain – The Associated Press
- South Africans develop tool to detect cervical cancer – Coastweek
- We need a more robust effort to eradicate female genital mutilation – The Guardian
- Health ministry acts to address maternal care – Namibia Economist