An abortion protester drove his van into the front entrance of the main Planned Parenthood clinic near downtown Houston yesterday, causing some damage but thankfully no injuries.
Frank Lafayette Bird Jr., 61, of the 2300 block of Callie Street, was arrested at the scene.
Bird, a well-known Houston abortion protester who served a one-year federal prison term for attacking a doctor outside another Houston clinic in December 1994, told a deputy constable the crash was done deliberately to “stop the killing.”
No one was injured when Bird’s van, bearing the name “Watkins,” plowed through the clinic’s glass doors about 10 minutes after 9 a.m.
Bastard.
There is one irony to this and other recent events involving clinics and protesters, which was mentioned in this earlier version of the story but not today’s:
[Peter Durkin, the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas] and others at the clinic expressed hope that the Friday attack was not the beginning of another violent siege in the wake of a Feb. 26 ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to punish or curtail protesters.
Although the ruling applies to all forms of protest, the case stemmed from a dispute between the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue and the National Organization for Women, along with abortion clinics in Milwaukee and Wilmington, Del., and has been hailed by Operation Rescue as a vindication of aggressive anti-abortion protest.
In the wake of the ruling, abortion rights groups promised to look at other laws, notably the recently passed USA Patriot Act, to see if anti-terrorism statutes can be used to curtail aggressive protesting.
Using the execrable Patriot Act against these people would be about the only good use I could think of for it. Take that, John Ashcroft.
Link to earlier story via Devra.
Well this sucks.
I am fairly ambivalent on the abortion issue, but what I am unequivocal about is the Rule of Law. I hope this fellow is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
In Sharpe v. Conole US Court of Appeals Second Circuit Docket No: 01-7044, I prosecuted a claim against hospital executives and state officials who violently blocked a maternity service in Upstate New York. The case was dismissed because state officials participated in the violence. 2 mothers and at least 35 babies were killed. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances protects all reproductive services. Dr. Sharpe
First of all you have not researched the case. Otherwise you would know that the indictment was overturned based on Congress’ misinterpetation of the “commerce clause” when enacting the FACE legislation. Second of all this man is my father and while I do not agree with his methods for making a statement one must respect his beliefs. I am sure that all of you agree with the “anarchists” and “animal rights” activists who destroy personal property and attack innocent people in the name of their cause.