xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET REPORT For Week ending May 28, 1994 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET REPORT is a weekly update on reproductive rights issues distributed through email, Women's Wire, gopher.WELL.com, Usenet groups alt.activism, talk.abortion, soc.women, and other Internet channels. Please reprint, distribute and TAKE ACTION. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CLINTON SIGNS FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO CLINIC ENTRANCES ACT (FACE) On May 26 President Clinton signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) which makes it a federal crime to use "force or threat of force" or "physical obstruction" that attempts to or actually intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking or providing reproductive health services. Property damage and destruction are also prohibited. The scope of FACE also includes places of worship. "We simply cannot -- we must not -- continue to allow the attacks, the incidents of arson, the campaigns of intimidation upon law-abiding citizens that (have) given rise to this law," Clinton said. Under FACE, first-time violent offenders convicted of physically preventing, intimidating or blocking people from entering clinics face fines of up to $100,000 and jail sentences of up to one year. Subsequent convictions could lead to fines of $250,000 and three years' imprisonment. The law explicitly exempts from punishment any conduct shielded by the Constitution's free-speech and assembly clause, like peaceful picketing, chanting and passing out leaflets. As Clinton signed the bill, The American Life League was already in federal court requesting an injunction to block the law from taking effect. Flip Benham, director of Operation Rescue said the new law is "criminalizing a Christian activity. We're going to continue to defend babies." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RU486 COMES TO THE U.S. The French manufacturer of RU486, Roussel-Uclaf, has given away its valuable patent rights for the drug to the Population Council, an international non-profit organization engaged in scientific research. The Population Council was established in 1952 and has offices in 16 other nations. It has developed six major contraceptive methods now in worldwide use. The council will conduct tests required by the FDA and will select and American company to produce the pills. Clinical trials involving 2,000 women at a dozen U.S. sites will begin this fall, followed by an application to the FDA for approval. The process of testing, application, and approval could take as long as 14 months. RU486, formally known as mifepristone--has been used for abortions in the first seven weeks of pregnancy by 150,000-200,000 women in France, Britain and Sweden. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT TELLS PROTESTERS TO BACK OFF In a 6-1 decision on May 27, the California Supreme Court held that protesters can be kept across the street and away from clinics, including the public sidewalk in front of the facility to protect patients. In the decision, the judges said the government has "a substantial interest" in protecting women seeking abortions. "The state's responsibility for the health and safety of women seeking medical services, including abortions, extends beyond the operating room," wrote Justice Armand Arabian. The counsel for the plaintiffs have indicated that they will probably wait for the outcome of Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc., now before the U.S. Supreme Court, before deciding whether to appeal. In that case, a Florida judge prohibited specific antiabortion protesters and all persons working "in concert" with them from coming within 36 feet of the clinic; from approaching patients within 300 feet of the clinic unless invited to do so; and from approaching or congregating within 300 feet of the residences of clinic employees. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CALIFORNIA PASSES NATION'S STRONGEST FETAL MURDER LAW On May 16, the California Supreme Court ruled that killing a nonviable fetus can be murder. The Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas wrote that "The third party killing of a fetus with malice aforethought is murder . . . as long as the state can show that the fetus has progressed beyond the embryonic stage of seven to eight weeks." In a 6-1 decision, overturned years of decisions by lower courts holding that a fetus must be viable before a defendant who causes it death can be charged with murder. The case involved Robert A. Davis who was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole after shooting Maria Flores at a San Diego check-cashing parlor in 1991. Flores survived but miscarried the next day. Under this new interpretation, anyone who unlawfully causes the death of a fetus or a miscarriage -- even in a woman whose pregnancy is not apparent -- can be prosecuted for murder and, if convicted, be sentenced to death. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx COURTS UPHOLD JUDGMENTS AGAINST ANTI-CHOICE ACTIVISTS On May 2, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Lovejoy Specialty Hospital v. Advocates for Life, thereby letting stand an award of over $8 million against more than two dozen anti-choice activists for trespass and nuisance activities that began in Oregon in the mid-1980's. The settlement included injunctive relief and plaintiff's attorney fees. The Oregon Court of Appeals noted that "punitive damages serve a fundamental, indeed primal, government interest in discouraging repeated trespasses and nuisances on private property that result in property damage, economic loss and violence." Although the Lovejoy clinic has not yet recovered the damages, clinic staff note that they have not been subjected to anti-choice protests or harassment since the verdict. A Houston jury concluded that anti-choice demonstrators conspired to disrupt the business of Planned Parenthood of Southeast Texas and awarded over $1 million in punitive damages. The case centered on state laws governing business and commerce. Anti-choice protesters had violated a state court injunction by preventing patients and staff from entering Houston-area clinics during the 1992 Republican National Convention. The jury ordered Operation Rescue to pay $350,000, Keith Tucci to pay $150,000, Rescue America to pay $255,000, and its director Donald Treshman to pay $155,000. Leaders of Operation Rescue and Rescue America have already vowed to appeal the decision and resist paying the fines. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx HEALTH CARE REFORM SLOW GOING Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV) accused Senator Robert Dole of Kansas of opposing Clinton's health care reform in order to advance his presidential ambitions. Dole denied the charge while at the same time the Republican National Committee unveiled a $500,000 national television ad campaign featuring Dole attacking health care reform. Representatives Dingell (Chair of Energy and Commerce Committee) and Rostenkowski (Chair of Ways and Means Committee) apparently cannot round up the votes they need from their committee members for employer mandates, thereby temporarily stalling a major piece of health care reform. Meanwhile Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) said that he continues to believe that Congress will approve health care legislation this year, although he acknowledged that the ultimate version may not resemble Clinton's original proposal except in principle. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Information Sources: California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League-North, Alan Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom News, Culture Watch, Political Woman, various Congresspersons, various newspapers, C-Span, CNN, AP, and UPI. Editor: Kathy Watkins, Administrative Director, CARAL-North If you wish to be added or deleted from the email distribution list, please email: dtv@well.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx .