Abortion Clinics

Law enforcement officials are tracking a mysterious outbreak of antiabortion violence that is not lethal but potentially more elusive than the bombings and arson attacks that have plagued abortion clinics in recent years. Between late May and early July, 19 abortion clinics--10 in central Florida, five in New Orleans and four in Houston--were squirted, sprayed or injected with butyric acid, an intensely noxious industrial chemical.

ATLANTA — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill Monday imposing new restrictions on the state's sole abortion clinic that could force it to close its doors. The law is one of several recent state measures championed by antiabortion activists and passed largely by Republican allies. Last week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law that banned most abortions after 20 weeks. In March, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion.

Abortion opponents have a new strategy aimed at reducing the number of pregnancies that are terminated, and it will probably be a lot more effective than the tactics used in the past. So writes Theodore Joyce, a health care economist at Baruch College in New York, in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The largely ineffective efforts to which Joyce refers are ones aimed at reducing demand for abortions by targeting the women who are considering them.

The sole abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi could be forced to close under a bill headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Bryant, who has said he intends to sign it. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that the state Senate gave final legislative approval to the measure on Thursday. It now heads to Bryant, a Republican who was elected to lead the state in November -- at the same time an antiabortion "personhood" amendment failed when put to a statewide vote. During his first state of the state address in January, however, Bryant pledged he would not give up the fight.

Police in Clinton warned abortion clinics to be particularly cautious as officers searched for an escaped inmate who allegedly threatened doctors who perform abortions. Clayton Lee Waagner, who once said he was on a mission from God to kill abortion providers, escaped from the DeWitt County Jail while awaiting sentencing on weapon possession and vehicle theft convictions. Waagner, 44, of Kennerdell, Pa.

Buffer zones meant to keep abortion protesters away from several Houston area women's clinics violate free speech, the Texas Supreme Court ruled. In a 6-3 decision, the Austin-based court modified buffer zones surrounding four clinics and eliminated buffers around five other clinics. Four clinics now must allow up to two "sidewalk counselors" to approach their patients within their buffer zone boundaries. However, the antiabortionists must leave patients alone if asked to, the court said.

The fear of terrorism close to home, unfortunately, is not new to the health care providers who work in abortion clinics. The arrest of Clayton Lee Waagner, who is suspected of sending hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to these clinics, again shows the urgent need to protect reproductive health care providers from violence and threats of violence.

A woman who operated an abortion clinic that catered to low-income Latino women has pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, officials said. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, faces up to nine years in prison when she is sentenced Feb. 6. Bugarin once operated six abortion clinics in Southern California, including Clinica Medica de la Mujer in Chula Vista, which advertised on Spanish-language television in San Diego. Nine former patients identified her as the person who performed medical procedures on them.

According to polls, most Americans support the legal right of women to choose abortion and deplore the harassment and violence that has been directed at abortion clinics and their patients. Nevertheless, a recent national survey of abortion providers has found that anti-abortion activities in the United States are widespread and frequent, take many forms, and have increased in the mid-1980s.

An early-morning fire of suspicious origin caused heavy damage to a busy Portland abortion clinic that has been the target of arsonists in the past. Fire Department officials said the cause was "suspicious." Federal agents are "pursuing all leads," an FBI spokesman said. Fire broke out at the Lovejoy Surgicenter and flames were shooting out a back window when firefighters arrived, an official said. There were no injuries.

Abortion opponents have a new strategy aimed at reducing the number of pregnancies that are terminated, and it will probably be a lot more effective than the tactics used in the past. So writes Theodore Joyce, a health care economist at Baruch College in New York, in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The largely ineffective efforts to which Joyce refers are ones aimed at reducing demand for abortions by targeting the women who are considering them.

For many Americans, abortion is a political issue. Though many of us may participate in marches, make donations, vote for candidates based solely on their stands on abortion, it remains mostly a theoretical issue. But for some people, abortion, and the conflict surrounding it, defines their daily life. "12th and Delaware," a documentary by Oscar nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady ("Jesus Camp"), offers a glimpse into the literal intersection of those who support legal abortion and those who do not. On one side of the street in Fort Pierce, Fla., A Woman's World provides abortions.

Susan Hill, a national women's rights advocate and the owner of several abortion clinics around the country, died Jan. 30 at a hospital in Raleigh, N.C. She was 61 and had breast cancer. Hill focused on establishing clinics in rural areas where women had no access to abortion services. She opened more clinics than anyone else in the United States, sometimes drawing 1,000 protesters at a time. She sued protesters 34 times for blocking entrances and physically preventing women from entering the facilities.

For decades, Sister Donna Quinn has championed the rights of women to use contraception, seek ordination and end unwanted pregnancies. The Dominican nun has picketed for abortion rights in the nation's capital, petitioned the pope to select a female archbishop and escorted women into abortion clinics. But as the Vatican turns up its scrutiny of the nation's nuns and America's Roman Catholic bishops refuse to support universal healthcare if it covers abortion, Quinn has put her crusade on hold.

A clash in Oakland between freedom of speech and unfettered access to abortion clinics was resolved Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that a 2008 city ordinance barring abortion protesters from coming within eight feet of women entering and exiting abortion clinics is constitutional. "I am horribly disappointed," said the Rev. Walter Hoye, a Berkeley-based Baptist minister who challenged the so-called bubble ordinance after he was convicted of violating it last year.

Just a few blocks off Oakland's busy Jack London Square, Walter Hoye, a soft-spoken Baptist minister, was standing outside an abortion clinic, doing his best not to get arrested. Dressed in black and wearing his "Got Jesus?" ball cap, Hoye, 52, of Union City, Calif., held the hand-lettered sign he always brings: "God loves you and your baby. Let us help you." His black wire-rimmed sunglasses, perched halfway down his nose, gave him a faintly Hollywood air.

A woman who operated an abortion clinic that catered to low-income Latino women has pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, officials said. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, faces up to nine years in prison when she is sentenced Feb. 6. Bugarin once operated six abortion clinics in Southern California, including Clinica Medica de la Mujer in Chula Vista, which advertised on Spanish-language television in San Diego. Nine former patients identified her as the person who performed medical procedures on them.

Californians might have a sense of deja vu when they vote in November on Proposition 4, a ballot measure that would require doctors to notify a parent or other adult family member before an abortion is performed on a minor. Similar measures were put before the voters in 2005 and 2006 and lost by slim margins both times.