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Kyle Tucker
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Hotel Satire
Lydia Sargent
Torture
Kurt Nimmo
Fog Watch
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Interview
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Anti-Choice
Raquel Castellanos
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David Barsamian
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Labor
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Blue Mountain Clinic, Montana
O n a brisk Missoula morning last September, anti-choice extremists showed up at Blue Mountain Clinic to harass and heckle women accessing abortion services. After an almost ten year absence of picketing at the clinic, they have persisted for over six months without missing a week. Opened in 1977, the clinic was the first provider of abortion services for women in Montana. Founded by a group of feminist activists (including Judy Smith who was instrumental in filing the Roe v. Wade case in Texas), Blue Mountain Clinic has been at the forefront of the pro-choice debate in Montana for over 27 years.
In March 1993, an arsonist opposed to the clinic’s delivery of abortion services burned the clinic to the ground. Richard Andrews, a Washington state resident, was sentenced in 1998 to seven years for torching seven abortion clinics in four western states, including Blue Mountain Clinic. When Andrews was stopped in Vancouver, Washington in June 1996, state troopers found a butane torch, a road flare, gasoline containers, plastic pipe, and a Bible in the trunk of his car. Police believed he was en route to a clinic in Portland, Oregon. Andrews was the leader of a Wenatchee, Washington group called Christian Coalition for Public Policy and was also affiliated with the national anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.
Prior to the arson fire, the clinic experienced constant harassment from anti-choice picketers. From the mid-1980s until the arson in 1993, the clinic was bombarded with weekly protesting. In 1991, Operation Rescue organized the largest, most aggressive protest against Blue Mountain Clinic. Between 75 to 100 anti-choice fanatics blockaded the clinic’s front and back entrances. Several clinic staff were trampled as protestors rushed the doors. When escorts assisted women trying to get in, the large crowd would rush the doors in an effort to get into the clinic. Local police made over 50 arrests that day and required a large school bus to haul away all those arrested.
As a result of the arson fire, an outpouring of support from the community rallied to rebuild Blue Mountain Clinic. Raising over $700,000 through donations, a state-of-the-art medical facility was built—with safety features that could meet the growing needs of clients and provide a safe space for reproductive choice.
With the arrest of Richard Andrews in 1996, protesting activities at the new clinic, which opened in September 1995, have been virtually nonexistent. However, the constant harassment of doctors and clinics that took place during the early and mid 1990s took its toll on access to reproductive health care in Montana. Physicians throughout the state were personally harassed. One physician in Bozeman, Montana, whose picture was featured on an anti-choice billboard in her community, depicting her as a “murderer,” ultimately left the state.
Montana is the fifth largest state in land mass. Between 1992 and 1996, the number of abortion providers there fell from 12 to 4. Women now come to Missoula from all over the state, often driving five or more hours to access services. Many also come from as far away as Idaho, eastern Washington, and Wyoming. Before abortions became legal in Canada, Canadian women were seen weekly at Blue Mountain Clinic.
In September 2003, a person with well-known ties to Operation Rescue, Marilyn Hatch, set up camp at the clinic picketing and harassing patients and staff. With a long history of anti-choice activism, Hatch had three previous arrests, all from 1994, when she was apparently traveling throughout the country on her “mission” to obstruct clinic access. In March 1994, she was arrested during an Operation Rescue blockade of a clinic entrance in Birmingham, Alabama. In May of that year, she was arrested for obstructing the entrance to the Planned Parenthood in Waco, Texas. In June, she was arrested for violating FACE (the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) when she and four others chained themselves to old cars in front of a clinic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During that year, Hatch was on the payroll full time for Operation Rescue.
In her currently resurrected career of clinic harassment, Hatch’s strategies to harass, confuse, and intimidate patients has become more aggressive. During her first weeks at the clinic, she began by telling patients that she was “here to help them” by providing counseling. (“Sidewalk counseling” is currently in vogue with anti-choice protestors throughout the country.) As those techniques failed to draw any free “counseling” takers, she changed her tactics and began shouting misinformation at women and their partners as they entered the clinic. Clutching her bible, she would yell, “Ask about the breast cancer link.” (The National Institute of Health reported in March 2003 that there is no medical evidence linking breast cancer to abortion.) She would often shout at the partners, “Be a man, don’t kill your baby” or, “This will damage you for life, you won’t be able to have babies again.”
Hatch also targets clinic staff. Her tactics include photographing staff and their license plates and trying to befriend staff by telling them, “You can get a better job” or leaving business cards for “abortion workers,” urging them to report employers for discrimination and payroll fraud. In one instance, Hatch singled me out as the director of the clinic and threatened to tell my neighbors that I kill babies.
After nearly ten years without this type of activity, why now? According to the National Abortion Federation’s website, in their analysis of trends they found, “There were 10,241 incidents of picketing reported in 2002. This is the highest number of picketing incidents ever reported to NAF. Reports from clinics across the country make clear that the numbers of picketers, their aggressiveness, and their intensity has also increased. Picketing and other forms of harassment continue to occur and with greater intensity than in the past, according to reports from abortion clinics. The practice of photographing women entering and leaving clinics and posting their images on websites has increased. Also posted on anti-choice websites are pictures of clinic staff and the license plates and cars of abortion providers. We expect this type of harassment to increase in the coming year.”
While NAF officials are finalizing their analysis for 2003, the numbers for last year indicate the continued growing trend: “The total number of incidents of disruption increased from 10,543 in 2002 to 11,880 in 2003, its highest level ever.”
Public discourse on abortion has become more heated during George Bush Jr.’s presidency. One of his first actions after taking office in 2001 was to reinstate the global gag rule on abortion. The gag rule prohibits family planning organizations that receive U.S. funds from using their own funds to counsel about or refer for abortion or to lobby their own government for a change in abortion laws.
Bush’s nomination of nine conservative judges to federal circuit courts has also reignited the abortion debate, as most of the nominees either refused to answer questions about their positions on abortion or were blatantly and vocally anti-choice. Circuit court judges are often nominated to the Supreme Court and with President Bush’s public statements in favor of the repeal of Roe v. Wade , national organizations such as NAF, Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization of Women pressured Democrats to filibuster the nominations of these extremist judges.
Bush’s policies to withhold the $34 million that Congress had traditionally appropriated for the United Nations’ International Family Planning Program (UNFPA), has damaged the U.S.’s standing internationally. The fund provides the largest internationally funded source of population assistance to developing countries, providing reproductive and maternal health services to millions of men and women in more than 150 countries. The Fund’s programs help impoverished and underserved women throughout the world. Bush’s withdrawal of support was based on the funds’ work to promote contraceptive education and access to safe abortion services.
With Bush on their side, extreme right pundits have set the climate for renewed aggression aimed at abortion clinics, physicians, and families looking to access their safe and legal right to reproductive health care.
Raquel Castellanos is executive director of the Blue Mountain Clinic.
Z Magazine Archive
Announcements
OCCUPY TOGETHER - Occupy Together is the unofficial hub for the various occupations springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. Towns and cities worldwide are participating.
Contact: http://www.occupytogether.org/.
MAY DAY - May 1 is May Day, also International Workers Day, celebrating the successful fight of workers for rights such as the eight-hour workday. A General Strike is called for May Day by many groups, and events are planned worldwide.
Contact: http://maydayunited.org/; http://www.may1.info/; info@maydayunited.org.
LABOR - The 2012 Labor Notes Conference, themed Solidarity for the 99%, will be held May 4-6, in Chicago. Thousands of union members, officers, and grassroots labor activists will attend the event, which features workshops, meetings and organizing opportunities.
Contact: 313-842-6262; http:// labornotes.org/conference.
MARIJUANA MARCH - On the first Saturday of May (this year: May 5) marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.
Contact: http://globalcannabismarch.com; http://cannabis.wikia.com.
AMERICAN MUSLIMS - KinderUSA will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a Fundraising Banquet Dinner in Los Angeles on May 5. The keynote speaker will be Norman Finkelstein. KinderUSA was founded as a group of concerned humanitarians and physicians, and has become a leading American Muslim charity organization helping families through health development and emergency relief.
Contact: http://www.kinder usa.org/.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE - SWAN (Service Women’s Action Network) will present Truth and Justice: The 2012 Summit on Military Sexual Violence in Washington, D.C. on May 8. The conferences will give survivors the opportunity to share their stories with congressmembers, policy experts and the general public; with key panels by military law and policy experts on major topics involving military sexual violence and survivors’ access to justice.
Contact: http://truthandjustice summit.org/.
MEDIA - The Alliance for Community Media Youth Summit 2012 will be held May 8 at Pierce College in Philadelphia, PA. The summit will consist of four one-day symposia that provide a public forum for discussion about media and news literacy in America. Participants will include educators, community leaders, media professionals, journalists, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and students.
Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org.
MOMS/BOMBS - Moms Against Bombs and the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action will honor the long history of women’s resistance to injustice, war and nuclear weapons on May 12. A full day of activities is planned, including Orientation to the Trident Nuclear Weapons System, Nonviolence Training, Action Planning and Preparation, Mother’s Day Proclamation for Peace, and a Vigil and Nonviolent Direct Action at the Bangor Trident Submarine Base.
Contact: Anne Hall, 206- 545-3562, annehall@familyhealing.com; gznonviolencenews@yahoo.com; www.gzcenter.org.
MOTHER’S DAY/PEACE - The Mother’s Day Walk for Peace began in 1996 for families who had lost their children to violence. On a day that celebrates mothers and children, the Walk became a place for families and friends to feel support and love with thousands of others who pledge their commitment to peace.
The day has also become a way for thousands of people to financially support the work of the Louis Brown Peace Institute. Mother’s Day is May 13.
Contact: http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/; http://www.ldb peaceinstitute.org/.
BRECHT FORUM - The Beginning Is Near: An Evening with Michael Moore & Cornel West, a special benefit for the Brecht Forum, will be held May 18 at Hunter College in New York City.
Contact: https://brechtforum.org.
LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s 44th annual conference, A Century of Bread and Roses, is scheduled for May 18-20 in Tacoma, WA.
Contact: PNLHA, 2402-6888 Station Hill Drive, Burnaby, BC, V3N 4X5; 604-540-0245; pnlha@shaw.ca; www.pnlha.org.
HOMELESSNESS - PM Press and First Presbyterian Church will host author Summer Brenner at the Conference on Homelessness on May 19 in Palo Alto, CA.
Contact: First Presbyterian Church, 1140 Cowper Street, Palo Alto, VA 94301; http://www.pmpress.org/.
NATO/G8 - The Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda is organizing protests at the NATO and G8 meetings being held in Chicago, May 19-21. A legal, permitted, family-friendly march and rally are planned for May 19. An Occupy Chicago month-long occupation is being planned to begin May 1. The Network for a Nato-Free Future and American Friends Service Committee will also be hosting a Counter-Summit for Peace and Economic Justice May 18-19 at People’s Church in Chicago.
Contact: http://cang8.wordpress.com/about/; http://www.natofreefuture.org/.
ANARCHY FEST - A month-long Festival of Anarchy is scheduled for May in Montreal. The festival includes The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 19-20).
Contact: http://www.radical montreal.com/;http://www.anarchist bookfair.ca/.
TRUTHDIG - Truthdig.com will be gathering May 20-25 in New Mexico with other concerned people to assess current prospects for progressive change. Speakers include Dennis Kucinich and Chris Hedges.
Contact: http://www.truthdig.com/event/santafe.
FEMINIST SCI-FI - The feminist science fiction convention WisCon 36 is scheduled for May 25-28 in Madison, Wisconsin, featuring discussion and debate of sci-fi/fantasy ideas relating to feminism, gender, race and class.
Contact: WisCon, c/o SF3, PO Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701; concom35@wiscon.info; www.wiscon.info.
MULTICULTURE - The 25th Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) holds its annual conference May 29 -June 2 in New York City.
Contact: Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405- 325-3694; www.ncore.ou.edu.
BIKING - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides scheduled, music, exhibitors and more.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mail@bikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.
RADIO - The 37th Annual Community Radio Conference is scheduled for June 13-16 in Houston, TX with discussions and workshops.
Contact: National Federation of Community Broadcasters, 1970 Broadway, Suite 1000, Oakland, CA 94612; 510-451 -8200; conference@nfcb.org; www.nfcb.org.
PEOPLE’S SUMMIT - The People’s Summit for Social and Environmental Justice during Rio+20 is an event by global civil society that will take place between the 15 and the 23 of June at Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro—alongside the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio+20.
Contact: contato@rio2012. org.br; http://cupuladospovos.org.br/en/.
ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ACD) holds its annual conference June 21-24 in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops on civil rights, media, the Mideast, etc.
Contact: ADC, 1732 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington DC, 20007; 202-244-2990; convention@adc.org; www.adc.org/convention.
MEDIA - The 14th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 28-July 1 at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Participatory workshops and skillshares will emphasize DIY alternative media to advance visions of a just and creative world.
Contact: Allied Media Projects, 4126 Third St., Detroit, MI 48201; www.alliedmediacon ference.org.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 7-10 in Las Vegas, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
PEACESTOCK - On July 14 the 10th Annual Peace- stock: A Gathering for Peace will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. Peacestock (formerly “Pigstock”) is a mixture of music, speakers, and community for peace. The event is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 115 and has a peace-themed agenda.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.
POPULAR ECONOMICS - The Center for Popular Economics is holding its 2012 Summer Institute July 23-27 at Columbia University in New York City. No background in economics is needed for this intensive training. This year’s theme is Economics for the 99%.
Contact: Center for Popular Economics, PO Box 785 Amherst, MA 01004; 413-545-0743; programs@populareconomics.org; www.populareconomics.org.
CUBA/PASTORS - The 23rd annual Pastors for Peace Friendship Caravan to Cuba is scheduled for
July1-July 31. Volunteers will travel across the U.S and Canada collecting aid and educating about the unjust blockade against Cuba, before an orientation in Texas July 15-18, followed by an education program in Cuba July 21-29, and finally a return back to the U.S. People can participate by attending or hosting local events, donating materials, or sponsoring a traveler.
Contact: IFCO/Pastors for Peace, 418 W. 145th St., New York, NY 10031; 212-926- 5757; cucaravan@igc.org; www.pastorsforpeace.org.
COMMUNITY MEDIA - The Alliance for Community Media 2012 National Conference is scheduled for July 31-August 2 in Chicago. Hands-on workshops and skillshares will be offered by this grassroots coalition of community media groups. This year’s theme is Collaborate!
Contact: ACM, 1760 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500, McLean, VA 22102; www.alliancecm.org.
VETERANS - Veterans for Peace is holding the 27th annual convention August 8-12 in Miami, FL. This year’s theme is, Liberating the Americas: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contact: Veterans For Peace, 216 S. Meramec Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-725-6005; www.vfpnationalconvention.org
COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events and entertainment; scheduled for August 31-September 3 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.
Contact: Twin Oaks Communities Conference, 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, VA 23093; 540-894-5126; conference@ twinoaks.org; www.communitiesconference.org.


