xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET REPORT For Week ending August 27, 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 CLINICS REMAIN ON HIGH ALERT At Montana clinics, bullets continue to arrive in the mail with the names of doctors etched on them. Death threats come in by mail and phone to clinics all over the country. In one city, a death threat was made via a local radio station. On August 9, a manager at the Planned Parenthood clinic discovered a bomb outside the clinic. A composite drawing of a woman seen near the clinic soon after the bomb led to the arrest of Helen Virginia Ames, 33, of Gulfport, Mississippi. Ames has been ordered held without bail pending trial. Her court-appointed attorney said he will file a motion to have Ames tested to see if she is psychologically competent to stand trial. Ames was convicted in 1992 in Clearwater, Florida, of making a bomb threat on the phone to police. (source: personal reports and AP) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RADICAL REACTIONS TO FLORIDA MURDER Catholic Priest Rev. David Trosch has led the way encouraging anti-choice activists to kill abortion providers. Since Paul Hill murdered Dr. John Britton and James Barrett last month, Trosch has become a media celebrity. His many television appearances have included the Today Show, CNBC and dozens of local news broadcasts. Among his many quotes excusing these gruesome murders were these gems: "God smiles on those who take a life to save the lives of the 'unborn.'' and ''Defending innocent human life is not murder.'' Advocates for Life released a statement saying that ''while Paul Hill may have been genuinely concerned to protect children and justified in shooting abortionist John Britton, he may have been wrong in the shooting death of the bodyguard.'' Donald Spitz, spokesman for Operation Rescue Chesapeake, reacted to the murders with this statement, "If there was a sniper in the school yard sniping off children one by one and the only way you could stop him was by stopping that sniper ... you would stop that sniper.'' Michael Bray, a Bowie, Md., pastor who served four years in prison for bombing clinics in the Washington area and has just written a book called ''A Time to Kill,'' said, ''There is no prohibition in the Bible against killing.'' The ancient Hebrew word translated as ''kill'' in the commandment ''Thou shalt not kill'' does not refer to self-defense, Bray argues. All of these activists say they would not themselves kill a doctor. They say they are either too important to the cause, too committed to their families or too smart to publicly proclaim their intentions. Before the recent murders in Pensacola, Paul Hill assured several friends that he would not himself resort to violence. (source: Reuters) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RANDALL TERRY FINDS A NEW PLATFORM Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, is working with the radical right U.S. Taxpayers Party (USTP) launching a new "leadership institute" to train "militant" and "unmerciful" activists. Terry has recently assumed a leadership position at the USTP, writing newsletters and speaking at events. He says he plans to run as a USTP candidate in the state of New York in 1996. "I'm anxious to run," he said "I am chomping at the bit to actually be in office." Terry said a new "leadership institute" will be held near his hometown of Binghamton, New York in October and will offer "three days of intense training on vision, courage, biblical ethics, raising up a cadre of people who are militant, who are fierce, who are unmerciful to the deeds of darkness, unmerciful to the ideologies of hell." At the same conference Matthew Trewhella, leader of Missionaries to the Pre-born urged delegates to form armed militias and to establish a "militia day" in their churches. Conference organizers sold copies of a manual on how to create an armed underground army. Jeffrey Baker, USTP National Committee member touted that "Abortionists should be put to death" during his convention speech. the audience erupted in applause. The U.S. Taxpayers party is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia. In 1992 the USTP presidential candidate, Howard Phillips, ran a series of controversial campaign commercials which featured the photograph, name, and home address of medical directors at a Planned Parenthood in Iowa while the narrator stated "Howard Phillips urges you to contact these baby killers and urge them to mend their ways. A vote for Howard Phillips is a vote to prosecute the baby killers for premeditated murder." and addresses of local abortion providers. (sources: AP and Frontlines Research) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx KLAN SHOWS ITS TRUE COLORS Ku Klux Klansmen have been demonstrating at clinics in Florida in full Klan robes. They said they were protesting both against abortion and the presence of federal marshals assigned to guard the clinics. Operation Rescue leadership asked members not to picket as long as the Klan are at the clinics. Klan spokesman J.D. Alder told Reuters "I am selectively opposed to abortion. I don't care if blacks and Jews have abortions." (source: San Jose Mercury News) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RESOURCES If the stories above bother you and you'd like to fight back against the ever-increasing threat of right wing terrorism, there is a resource manual that can help. It's called HOW TO WIN: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DEFEATING THE RADICAL RIGHT IN YOUR COMMUNITY and it contains more than 50 articles, checklists and organizing tips to help you find allies and defeat anti-liberty extremists. You can order a copy for $25 from the National Jewish Democratic Council, 711 2nd Street, NE, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20002 or call 202-544-7636. PROCHOICE RESOURCE CENTER, INC. - these folks publish an excellent quarterly newsletter documenting the good work of hundreds of pro-choice groups around the country. If you're looking for some case studies of successful pro-choice projects, contact them at 174 East Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, NY 10543. 800-733-1973 If you know of some good pro-choice resources, send information to me and I'll share it in future issues of the CHOICE-NET REPORT. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Information Sources: California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League-North, Alan Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom News, Voters for Choice, Culture Watch, Political Woman, various Congresspersons, various newspapers, C-Span, CNN, Reuters, AP, and UPI. Editor: Kathy Watkins, Administrative Director, CARAL-North .